RECENT NEWS FROM NING PO,
CHEKIANG PROVINCE
Sister Ruth Lee:
I am sure that you are very busy because it has been so long since you have written. (Parts omitted.)
By the Lord’s grace, we now meet to remember the Lord every Lord’s Day afternoon. There are eight sisters altogether. Three sisters have just been raised up to follow the Lord (teachers at Ts’ung Teh Girls’ School). We did not invite them to the meeting; they came to meet with us of their own accord. This really shows that the Lord has heard our prayer and worked by leading them to rise up to take the way of obedience. May the Lord fully gain them. Oh, we really feel we are empty and impotent in ourselves; we cannot bring His children to follow Him. We can only pray that He does the work and raises up His children in Ning Po to come and obey Him so that He may be glorified. Even more we hope that the Lord will raise up brothers who can bear the responsibility for the meetings so that we can have the table meeting. Sisters, please pray for this matter also.
Thank the Lord, my physical strength is much better than before. Although the pain in my abdomen has increased, I can pass through everything by relying on the Lord. I believe that everything will come to pass according to His Word. Oh, by His faithfulness, I have a living hope. May He lead me to learn the lesson He wants me to learn; may I learn it well in order to please Him and so that I may get up again to serve Him with my remaining time. I ask the Lord to bless you with peace.
Your sister,
Yu Hua
January 3, 1934
RECENT NEWS FROM KWANGCHOW,
KWANTUNG PROVINCE
To the beloved sister in the Lord, Sister Lee:
Thank the Father God for His grace. He leads us day by day. He teaches us to see that the world is temporary, but reality is in Him. He really is our Savior, and He saves us to the uttermost. How has your health been recently? I am sure that your work has been blessed by the Lord.
Two other sisters and I, one who is a colleague of mine, Miss Lu Ai Chen, and Sister Liu Lien Hsin, have a meeting every Lord’s Day evening. Our hearts are completely happy. Thank the Lord that He is with us and leads us Himself. I hope that you also remember us often and ask the Lord to glorify Himself and ask God Himself to do a deep work so that we might completely turn to Him as His most beloved children. May He gain more people. (Parts omitted.) May the Lord bless you.
Your sister in the Lord,
Wei Ch’ing
January 7, 1934
RECENT NEWS FROM NORTHERN KIANGSU,
KIANGSU PROVINCE
To the brothers and sisters who faithfully love the Lord:
When the news came about starting Collection of Newsletters, we few weak ones were both joyful and watchful. We were joyful that we could receive comfort from the news of the brothers in other places. We were watchful that we would not steal the glory from the Lord. Therefore, we want to give the glory to the Lord on the one hand, and on the other hand, we want to let the brothers and sisters know our condition in the region of northern Kiangsu. Today we will list all the places in northern Kiangsu that have meetings in the Lord’s name and the names of the responsible brothers in these places. We hope to establish fellowship in the Lord and ask that the Lord strengthen us so that we may completely obey the truth. We also ask the Lord to bless this newsletter that it may give much glory to God. Amen!
The northern region of Kiangsu province used to be the territory of all the denominations. We were also members of a denomination and saw that the administration in the denominations was not according to the Bible in many points. Doubts often arose in us. Since we went to Shanghai to attend a conference in the middle of February 1928, we were enlightened by the Holy Spirit concerning our previous "doubts." They were answered one by one. After we returned, we were more enlightened by God and knew, for the most part, that sectarianism is contrary to the principles of the Bible, so we boldly and absolutely left the denominations. We started to meet in the Lord’s name in Yi Ling. Then we continued in Su Chia Tsui, Ta Ch’iao, and other places. We also gradually established the Lord’s table in these places. At that time there were more than one hundred brothers and sisters in the meetings.
In April 1931, Brothers Wu Wei and Chi Yung T’ung were together in Shanghai and testified in the Lord’s Day meeting concerning the condition of the meetings in the Lord’s name in northern Kiangsu (it has already been printed in Notes on Scriptural Messages). In October 1931, we attended the second conference in Shanghai bringing ten brothers with us. At that time there were nine places with the Lord’s table in northern Kiangsu and more than three hundred people attended the breaking of the bread. In April 1932, we went to Shanghai for a meeting again. At that time northern Kiangsu already had fourteen different table meetings with more than five hundred people breaking bread together.
Now there are nineteen places with the Lord’s table and about six hundred people breaking bread in them. About twenty percent came out of denominations; eighty percent are sinners called by the Lord. This entire situation has been raised up by the Lord Himself. This has been the result of works by the co-worker brothers and sisters and the prayer of the brothers and sisters who love the Lord. It is nothing we few weak, little ones could have done.
Thank the Lord! He has put us in the last age and made us able to stand for Him to testify for His testimony. May the Lord bless His work more strongly so that His glory and authority will not be hindered. I also hope the brothers and sisters will not forget to pray for us so that the Lord’s grace will be manifested more greatly until the end of the age. Amen.
The slaves of Christ,
Wu Wei, Chiu Jih Chien, Chi Yung Feng, Chi Yung T’ung, Ting Yi Yuan
January, 1934
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 25: Collection of Newsletters (1), Chapter 3, by Watchman Nee)
