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Is the BIA Another Corrupt Bureaucracy?
On June 9, 2013, as our family honors the June 9, 2004 anniversary of Roland J. 
Morris, Sr.’s passing, I feel called to bring his memory and his brave actions to the attention of our newest members and supporters, many who may be unfamiliar with Roland’s legacy.
Roland and I founded CAICW in February 2004 to fill a critical need for all families affected by the ICWA and the destructive forces of reservation life. In my book, ‘Dying in Indian Country,’ I chronicle our family’s own struggles and losses as a result of Indian policy, our decision to leave and our ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ. Roland and I both believed then, as I still do now, that the solutions to the problems we seek to expose and resolve rest in the hands of God. Even on the hardest days, we must trust Him to provide the direction and the answers to our prayers. In the meantime, CAICW remains committed to our original Christian ministry to share His Word while advocating for families at risk of harm due to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Our efforts are judicial and educational, as well as a prayer resource for families and a shoulder to cry on.
Roland, of 100% heritage, spoke Ojibwe as his first language. He was born and raised on the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota and spent his entire life watching friends and family die—physically, spiritually and emotionally—from the effects of alcoholism, drugs, violence and suicide. He himself was a survivor of these destructive behaviors and the more he came to know God, the more convinced he became that monumental change was needed to help his people.
He was especially concerned for the children and distressed by the lack of concern he witnessed by many adults within Indian country. He longed for the self-destruction to stop. God led Roland to step out and speak up for change in Indian country. It took great courage to do so then and it still does. Today, nine years after Roland’s passing, instead of hearing about positive change in Indian country, we continue to witness more of the same abuse and neglect, but on a much larger, more evil scale. And yet, tribal and federal government officials continue to turn a blind eye to the situation.
Roland was particularly concerned about the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), whose dictates perpetuate the abuse of children with Indian heritage by entrapping them in corrupt tribal systems. Instead of providing for the best concerns and welfare of children, this law has served to financially prop up corrupt tribal governments, more often serving the best interest of the tribe, social workers and federal officials than the children it is suppose to serve. The most high profile example of the complications and abuse of this law today are exemplified by the “Baby Veronica” case heard in April 2013, by the United States Supreme Court. In Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, two-year-old Veronica had been given for adoption as a newborn by her non-Indian mother, only to be later removed from the only home she ever knew on the basis of 1.12% Cherokee heritage.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hand down their ruling this month.
Not long before Roland’s passing, in April 2004, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published a series by Larry Oakes entitled, ‘The Lost Youth of Leech Lake,’ which chronicled many horrific accounts of destruction and despair happening to the children of Leech Lake. While the series initially caused a great stir, in the end it was not enough to bring about any significant change.
One of the victims highlighted in the series became an integral part of CAICW’s continued mission to expose the abuses in Indian country and urge action to bring positive change. Sierra Goodman, who was first given to a man to be used for sex at the age of ten, attempted to run away more than a dozen times to return to the only family she felt loved and safe with—a non-Indian foster family she had initially been placed with then taken away from because of the ICWA. After attempting to hang herself at the age of 16, Sarah was finally allowed to return to the family who loved her. This past February, Sierra joined CAICW in Washington, D.C. to personally tell her story to lawmakers and urge them to make changes to the ICWA by sighting the physical and emotional damage she has suffered as a result of the law.
As Roland spoke out against Indian policy, he appeared in numerous newspaper articles across the country. On May 14, 2004, Washington Times reporter Jennifer Lehner wrote:
“Mr. Morris said that once children are relocated to the reservations, they are subject to the corrupt law of the tribal government. Instead of preserving culture…the tribal leadership uses the ICWA to acquire funds provided through the legislation…ICWA is supposed to help children, but instead it helps tribal governments.”
Nine years later, tribal governments are no less corrupt, and the ICWA has become an integral funding source for all tribal issues. Lawyers, social service programs, social service workers, care providers, grant writers, foundations and tribal leadership are all getting rich as a result of this law. In the meantime, the children continue to suffer. In the past year, people we have seen new voices speaking to these concerns. The New York Times and Frontline’s Kind Hearted Woman documentary revealed these same issues and the abuses taking place on the Spirit Lake Reservation of North Dakota. Thomas Sowell penned the article, “Whose Welfare? The Injustice of the Indian Child Welfare Act,” in a January 2013 National Review Online article, while former Oglala Sioux Tribal Judge Patrick Lee recently wrote about the problems in his article “Why I filed a complaint against the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council.”
After attending a South Dakota conference in May that was aimed at hearing the grievances of reservation tribal members affected by the ICWA, native author David Rooks penned an article in the Rapid City Journal titled, “Rooks: Questions unasked, unanswered.” Rook is brave enough to write,
“Have there been problems with the implementation of ICWA? You bet. But while we’re gathered, let’s ask some additional questions. Questions, perhaps, no one wants to ask, like: Why are so many Native children winding up in foster care?”
He goes on to state,
“If we’re to be honest, we’ll look at each other and ask: What is going on with our families? What really is the problem? How do we restore our own cultural imperatives? How do we—not someone else—mend our own Sacred Hoop? Yes, children are sacred. Why is it so many of ours need to flee our people to be safe?”
Yes, like Roland did, people are finding their voices to bravely speak out and expose the truth, but after 13 Mandated Reports about the abuse of children on the Spirit Lake, SD reservation and NOT ONE SINGLE action being taken is it possible that change will never come to Indian country? Are the problems in Indian country just another long-running scandal the federal government is working 24-7 to keep in the dark? In honor of Roland, and most importantly for the sake of the children, I urge you to continue to vigilantly monitor and speak up about these atrocities. The U.S. Constitution defends the rights of all U.S. citizens and CAICW is calling on our government to equally protect children of all heritages.
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In memory of Minnesota Chippewa tribal member Roland J. Morris, Sr., the Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare is sponsoring an essay contest on June 9-15, 2013, to draw attention to the widespread and ongoing physical and sexual abuse of children living within Indian Country. The topic of the contest is ‘Why Children Are More Important Than Politics’ with a subtopic of ‘Why Is Our Federal Government Ignoring Ongoing Child Abuse?’
The 800-1500 word submissions can be sent to WriteUs@caicw.org.
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Other Stories:
Native Daughter: The Baby Ashlyn Story
A Tribe’s Epidemic of Child Sex Abuse, Minimized for Years
The Daily Republic: OUR VIEW: State wrongly demonized in ICWA debate
Pastor David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Pastor David Wilkerson died Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in a tragic car crash, according to a CBN report.
“It is with deepest of sadness that we have to inform you of the sudden passing of Reverend David Wilkerson, our founding pastor,” Times Square Church Senior Pastor Carter Conlon said in a statement on the church website.
Pastor David Wilkerson was first called to New York City to minister to gang members and drug addicts in February, 1958. Prior to that, he had been serving as pastor in small churches in Scottdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. It was there that he saw a photo in Life Magazine of seven New York City teenagers charged with murder. Feeling moved with compassion, he went to New York and began a street ministry.
He began by taking runaway children into his apartment to sleep on his couch and floor. One night, his was room filled with more kids than he could handle. Feeling overwhelmed, thinking there was no way he could accept another child, there was a knock at the door. He opened the door to find two forlorn children, who quietly asked if they could stay there as well. He told them he was sorry, but no. His apartment was full. Looking devastated, the children turned and left. Pastor David felt terrible. He never forgot the look of despair in their eyes, and he determined that he would never turn a child away again.
Later that year, Pastor David Wilkerson founded ‘Teen Challenge,‘ an evangelical Christian recovery program that has since grown into a network of Christian centers in several countries. In 1967, Wilkerson began Youth Crusades, a ministry for middle-class teenagers who were restless and bored – whom he called “goodniks” – with the hope of preventing them from getting into drug abuse, alcoholism and violence. Through this ministry, the CURE Corps (Collegiate Urban Renewal Effort) was founded with a goal of being a Christian version of the Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA).
David Wilkerson is the best-selling author of “The Cross and the Switchblade” and “The Vision.” Co-authored with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, “The Cross and the Switchblade,” published in 1963, is considered one of the most influential and evangelical books in history. It tells the story of gang member Nicky Cruz’s conversion and sold over 50 million copies in over thirty languages. A 1970 movie based on the book, starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Cruz, was included on Christianity Today’s “Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals.”
In 1971, Wilkerson moved his ministry headquarters to Lindale, Texas, and founded World Challenge, an organization with the mission of spreading the Gospel throughout the world.
Fifteen years later, walking down 42nd Street at midnight in 1986, he was passing by live peep shows and X-rated movie houses when his heart broke over the prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, runaways and hustlers crowding Times Square. Again overwhelmed, he cried out for God to do something to help all the spiritually dead and dying people.
Pastor David later said the Holy Spirit called him to return to New York City and to raise up a ministry in Times Square.
“I saw 9, 10 and 11-year-old kids bombed on crack cocaine. I walked down 42nd Street and they were selling crack. Len Bias, the famous basketball player, had just died of a crack overdose, and the pusher was yelling, ‘Hey, I’ve got the stuff that killed Len.’ I wept and prayed, ‘God, you’ve got to raise up a testimony in this hellish place…The answer was not what I wanted to hear: ‘Well, you know the city. You’ve been here. You do it.’”
He obeyed and in October of 1987, at the “crossroads of the world,” he opened the Times Square Church in rented auditoriums in Times Square (Town Hall and the Nederlander Theater). Later, in 1989, the ministry purchased the historic Mark Hellinger Theater, where the church then moved.
Since that time, he has faithfully led the congregation, delivering powerful biblical messages that encourage righteous living and complete reliance on God. Wilkerson’s sermons, such as “A Call to Anguish,” are direct and frank, emphasizing Jesus Christ, God’s holiness and righteousness, and God’s love for people.
He has also had a strong burden for pastors all over the globe. In the 1990′s, Wilkerson focused his efforts to encourage pastors and their families to “renew their passion for Christ” and since 1999, has traveled around the world holding conferences to strengthen and encourage Christian ministers.
In his own words:
“I’ve been an evangelist for 50 years, but I didn’t want to preach to pastors until I had gray hair, until I’d pastored. Now after 15 years of pastoring, sharing the hurts, pains, and difficulties of the ministry as a pastor, I felt the Lord finally release me, that I might have something to say.”
In 2006 Wilkerson and his wife Gwen began splitting their time between New York and Texas. They have four children and eleven grandchildren. His son Gary Wilkerson is also a Christian minister and evangelist.
According to Texas state troopers called on the scene, Wilkerson was hit head-on by a tractor trailer that moved into his lane. Although the truck driver saw the car and attempted to avoid the collision, Wilkerson crashed and was pronounced dead on the scene. Gwen Wilkerson is in critical condition.
Memorial services for Pastor David Wilkerson have been set for May 14, 2 p.m. ET at Times Square Church.
David Wilkerson was 79 years old.
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PROPHESIES
In April 1973, Pastor David Wilkerson had a vision regarding the U.S., which he then gave a sermon and wrote a book concerning. (called ‘The Vision.‘ )
Some of the details:
1. “Worldwide recession caused by economic confusion”
* “At most a few more fat flourishing years, and then an economic recession that’s going to affect the life style of every wage-earner in the world. The world economists are going to be at loss to explain what’s happening. It’s going to start in Europe, spread to Japan and finally to the United States.”
* There will be a move toward a worldwide, unified monetary system. The US dollar will be hit bad and it will take years for it to recover.
* The only real security will be in real estate (until a somewhat later stage, at which point this security will also disappear).
2. “Nature having labor pains”
* Environmentalists will come under heavy criticism.
* There will be major earthquakes.
* There will be a major famine.
* Floods, hurricanes and tornadoes will increase in frequency.
* “A new kind of cosmic storm appearing as a raging fire in the sky leaving a kind of vapor trail.”[4]
3. “A flood of filth and a baptism of dirt in America”
* Topless women will appear on television, followed by full nudity.
* Adult, X rated movies will be shown on cable television. Young people will gather at homes to watch this kind of material in groups.
* Sex and the occult will be mixed.
* There will be an acceptance of homosexuality, and the church will even say that it is a God-given gift.
4. “Rebellion in the home”
* “I see the new number one youth problem in America and the world as hatred towards parents.”
5. “A persecution madness against truly Spirit filled Christians who love Jesus Christ”
* There will arise a world church consisting of a union between liberal ecumenical Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church, using Christ in name only.
* There will be a hate Christ movement.
* There will be a spiritual awakening behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains.
6. Others
* There will be another wave of riots.
* There will be a fall in moral conduct.
* There will be a new drug that will be popular with teenagers that will break down resistance and will encourage sexual activity.
* Homosexual and lesbian ministers will be ordained and this will be heralded as a new breed of pioneer.
* There will be nude dancing in church, but this will never be widespread.
* There will be occult practices in churches.
http://www.tscnyc.org/history.php
Walking the Walk – The Final Answer: What we are really Supposed to be Doing
http://servingthekingstea.blogspot.com/2010/05/walking-walkand-why-part-i.html.
Continued from Part IV: What Exactly are We Supposed to Do?
Part V of V: Walking the Walk – What we are really supposed to be doing…
But now …what does that mean for us on a daily basis! What, exactly, are God’s instructions for our imperfect… but trying our best …Christian Walk…?
Walking our ‘impossible-without-God’s-constant-guidance’ Walk, begins with the First and Greatest Commandment, Deuteronomy 6:5: to ‘Love God’ – our purpose for being – completely, and follows through with the second, to ‘Love Others.’
While the usual instruction for walking the walk: Prayer, worship, fellowship, discipleship, tithing, and reading God’s Word, are all important parts of growth, the purpose of our growth is to be able to fulfill God’s purpose. God’s purpose for us is the Great Commission:
Matthew 28: 18-20, — The Great Commission — “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
When we obey the Great Commission, we are expressing Love to God by obeying his instruction with faith. Further, we are expressing our Love for Others by caring enough to tell them the Good News and see them Blessed. The Great Commission isn’t optional – it’s vital to our expression of love for God. The evidence for that is the fact that the Great Commission, just like the Great Commandment, is a concept interwoven and repeated throughout both the Old and New Testament.
The Bible begins with the first eleven chapters in Genesis introducing the Universe, then Adam, father of the human race, and finally Abraham, father of the chosen race. In the first three chapters, God moves quickly from creation of all things to our rebellion and his judgment. The next eight chapters describe the destructive results of that rebellion. (Interesting: this structure is similar to the structure of the Ten Commandments; First all about God, followed by all the ways man can mess up…)
Chapter 11 reports men saying to each other in verse 4,”Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.” Their focus was on a name for themselves; not God. The point here is not that they would ever be able to build a tower to heaven, but that their hearts were in completely the wrong place. God reacted to this overt rebellion by disbursing them.
Gen. 12:1-3 comes at a critical juncture when society is deteriorating.
It is here that God first states His missionary purpose. The Lord, speaking to Abraham, said,
“Leave your country, your people, and your father’s people and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse: and all people’s on earth will be blessed through you.”
God’s whole purpose is summarized here in the most unifying verses of Scripture.
Most people have paid attention to the part where God is promising Abraham that he will make his people great. But note the last sentence, which is frequently overlooked. Not only will Israel be blessed by this covenant, but all the people’s on earth will be blessed through God’s covenant with Israel.
God’s promise to make Abraham’s name great was a response to man’s attempts to make his own name great in Chapter 11. Why would God turn around and give that promise, when the subject of making man’s name great was such a problem in the earlier chapter? The lesson here is that significance doesn’t come from creating your own prestige, but from being a blessing to others. That’s God’s purpose. He wants us to Love Others more than ourselves. A true love, that comes from a selfless position; a depth of love that we learn only from him.
This promise of a blessing that includes God’s people being a light to all peoples of the world is repeated to Jacob in Genesis 26:4 and 28:14 and is intertwined throughout the rest of the Bible.
God’s gift of salvation for all people is evidenced in Ruth, Isaiah, and many other books. The Bible is not a collection of unrelated stories for enriching our personal lives; it’s a clear message of God’s ultimate intent.
Jonah for example, shows us how NOT to behave. He was one of God’s people, but was lazy and self-centered. He had no heart for the Gentiles. He was angry when God showed Nineveh mercy and he did his best to evade God’s wishes. Chapter 4:1-4 shows us that the greatest hurdle for Jonah to overcome wasn’t the sailors, big fish or even Nineveh, but his own attitudes. - Jonah is an example to those who want the benefit of Christianity but none of the responsibility.
On the other hand, Paul was motivated by hope that God would be glorified among the nations. In Romans 15:8, Paul writes,
“For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God…”
Other examples include:
Ex. 19:4-6, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (What does it mean to be priests but to minister to others?)
Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Missionary scholars equate this to ministering in your home community, in a close or similar community, or in a completely different culture.)
Rom. 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
Walking the Walk doesn’t require perfection, so don’t wait until you think you are perfect.
Walking the Walk requires getting up, getting out there, and walking. (In fact, if you think you are perfect, please stay home, and start this lesson over again at the top.)
We need to see ourselves for who we are: God’s servants, working together in Christ for His purposes and glory. If God hasn’t told you NOT to disciple, then the mandate to disciple stands. God has given each of us gifts to fulfill the specific role He has for us.
So is He is calling you to serve as a worker in a mission or ministry, a support person, a financial contributor, or to pray for the workers on the field?
If He is calling you out as a worker, is He calling you to work in your hometown Jerusalem, or in a similar “Samaria” community, or in a completely different land at the ends of the Earth?
Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. .May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thess 5:21-24
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 1 Thess 5:28
To Begin at Part I of this discussion – Click Here
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Christian Newspapers, News Sources
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Christian News Sources
Agape Press
Assist News Service – World News
Associated Baptist Press
Barna Group: Examine, Illuminate, Transform
Baptist Press News
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BosNewsLife – Budapest
Breaking Christian News
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CBN News; Christian World News
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Citizen USA - (out of Ohio)
Crosswalk.com
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Forum 18 News Service
Good News: Magazine of Understanding
Heartlight, Inc.
International Faith Telegraph
JesusJournal.com
Kyria.com – Women Chosen in Christ
LifeNews.com
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One News Now
Persecution.com
Religion News Today
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True News
Winsome Wit – Christian Humor
World Mag.com
Worthy Christian News
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Christian Television Stations – Christian TV
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Christian Television
Alkarma: Arabic Christian Satellite
Christian Broadcasting Netwk (CBN)
Christian Family Network Television
Christian Internet Radio & Television
Christian Television Net (CTN) (FL)
Christian Television Net (CTNUSA)
Christian Television Network Intern’l
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Sat-7 Christian Satellite to Mid East
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Turk- 7 Turkish Christian Television
More Christian News, Resources and Media at
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Watchman Nee – Part III – His Martyrdom
C.Continued from Part II – His Suffering
Relationship with Witness Lee
Watchman Nee’s closest co-worker was Witness Lee. Having been raised as a Southern Baptist, Witness Lee was saved in 1925 at the age of nineteen. That year Witness Lee began to seek to thoroughly know the Bible and found Watchman Nee’s articles and publications to be the most outstanding on biblical truths. He soon began to correspond with Watchman Nee and was astonished that someone only two years older than he was such a mature Christian. It was not until 1932, when Witness Lee invited Watchman Nee to Chefoo, that the two had their first personal contact. During the time they began to spend together, Watchman Nee’s stress on the divine life rather than on knowledge caused Witness Lee’s fellowship with the Lord to deepen and to grow more intimate. In the same year, believers began meeting in Witness Lee’s home; by the following year, this meeting was thriving. Due to the needs of the church, both men believed that the Lord desired Witness Lee to serve Him full-time. Their time together increased, during which Watchman Nee continually perfected and tested Witness Lee, preparing him to bear more responsibility. Realizing that the Lord’s work in China must be one and that He had begun it in Shanghai through Watchman Nee, Witness Lee moved to Shanghai in 1934 to be able to work more closely with Watchman Nee. They labored, suffered, spread the work, received revelation, and brought in revivals together. Brother Lee edited Watchman Nee’s publication The Christian from 1934 to 1940 and was his best man at his wedding.
In fear of annihilation by the incursion of Communism, Watchman Nee sent Witness Lee and a few others to Taiwan in 1949 to continue the work there. The last contact between Watchman Nee and Witness Lee was in March, 1950 in Hong Kong, twenty-five years after Witness Lee first knew of Watchman Nee. At that time, the two of them had extensive fellowship about Watchman Nee’s return to the mainland. He told Witness Lee,”What shall we do with so many churches on the mainland? I must return to take care of them and stand with them for the Lord’s testimony.”
Martyrdom
Watchman Nee was led by the Lord to remain in Mainland China in spite of the threat of Communism, and to sacrifice everything for the Lord’s work there. In this respect he was like the apostle Paul in Acts 20:24: “But I consider my life of no account as if precious to myself, in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus…” Concerning his decision, Brother Hsu Jin-chin testified the following:
Before Brother Nee left Hong Kong, Brother Lee advised him many times not to return to the mainland. But Brother Nee said, “If a mother discovered that her house was on fire, and she herself was outside the house doing the laundry, what would she do? Although she realized the danger, would she not rush into the house? Although I know that my return is fraught with dangers, I know that many brothers and sisters are still inside. How can I not return?” Brother Lee escorted him three times back from the bus stop to his home in Diamond Hill…
Watchman Nee was arrested by the Communists in March, 1952 for his professed
faith in Christ as well as his leadership among the local churches. He was judged, falsely condemned, and sentenced in 1956 to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
During this entire time, only his wife was allowed to visit him. Although there is no way for us to know what he experienced of the Lord during his long imprisonment, his last eight letters provide a glimpse into his suffering, feeling, and expectation during his confinement. While prison censorship did not allow him to mention the Lord’s name in his letters, in his final letter, written on the day of his death, he alluded to his joy in the Lord: “In my sickness, I still remain joyful at heart.”
Watchman Nee was practicing the word of the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He died in confinement in his cell on May 30, 1972. Humanly speaking, he died in misery and humiliation. Not one relative or brother or sister in the Lord was with him. There was no proper notification of his death and no funeral. He was cremated on June 1, 1972. His wife had died six months earlier, so it was her eldest sister who was informed of his death and cremation. She retrieved his ashes, and they were buried with Mrs. Nee’s in his hometown of Kwanchao in the county of Haining, Chekiang province. In May, 1989, the ashes of Watchman Nee and his wife were transferred to and buried in “The Christian Cemetery” in Shiangshan in the city of Soochow of Kiangsu province.
The following is an account by Brother Nee’s grandniece, who accompanied Mrs. Nee’s eldest sister to the labor farm to pick up his ashes:
In June 1972, we got a notice from the labor farm that my granduncle had passed away. My eldest grandaunt and I rushed to the labor farm. But when we got there,
we learned that he had already been cremated. We could only see his ashes….Before his departure, he left a piece of paper under his pillow which had several lines of big words written in a shaking hand. He wanted to testify to the truth which he had even until his death, with his lifelong experience.
That truth is—”Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ. Watchman Nee.”
When the officer of the labor farm showed us this paper, I prayed that the Lord would let me quickly remember it by heart…My granduncle had passed away. He was faithful until death. With a crown stained
with blood, he went to be with the Lord. Although God did not fulfill his last wish, to come out alive to join his wife, the Lord prepared something even better—they were reunited before the Lord.
During Watchman Nee’s imprisonment he was confined, but his ministry was not bound (2 Tim. 2:9). Under the Lord’s sovereignty, his ministry has spread throughout the entire world as a rich supply of life to all seeking Christians.
His ultimate burden was the churches as the house of God, God’s tabernacle. Although his own earthly tabernacle (physical body) has been taken down, the churches, which were so much on his heart, are not only surviving but also continuing to grow vigorously and to spread throughout the earth. By the time Watchman Nee was arrested in 1952, approximately four hundred local churches had been raised up in China through his life and ministry. In addition, over thirty local churches had been raised up in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Today the Lord has multiplied the local churches to over 2,300 worldwide through the rich and faithful ministries of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.
END
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Watchman Nee – Part II, His Suffering
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Continued from Part I, Chinese Missionary Martyr
From: www.watchmannee.org March 14, 2004, 11:00 am
Sufferings
Watchman Nee saw an undeniable vision and received a definite commission from the Lord concerning the church, and he suffered greatly due to his faithfulness to them. Because the vision was so clear and the commission so real, it did not matter to him that he was rejected, opposed, and condemned. He anticipated this response and was determined to pay any price for the commission he had received of the Lord. His faithfulness to this commission ultimately cost him his life. His profound revelation combined with his selfless sufferings issued in a rich ministry of life according to the Lord’s commission to him: the unique New Testament ministry of Christ and of the church.
Watchman Nee endured much suffering for the sake of the New Testament ministry. Due to his absoluteness in following the Lord and his faithfulness in fulfilling the Lord’s commission, he underwent frequent mistreatment as well as lifelong hardships. Because he unwaveringly fought the battle for the Lord’s move, he was under constant attack from God’s enemy. At the same time, he was also under God’s sovereign hand. He recognized the sovereign arrangements of God in his environment not merely as a divinely apportioned “thorn in the flesh,” but more importantly, as a means by which God was able to deal with him. Due to both the enemy’s attacks and God’s faithful environmental dealings, Watchman Nee lived a life of suffering. The majority of his sufferings came from five sources: poverty, ill health, various denominations, dissenting brothers and sisters in the local churches, and imprisonment.
In the early years of Watchman Nee’s ministry, the economic situation in China was desperate. Because of what he saw in the Word, he was exercised to live purely and singly by faith in God not only for his living, but also for every aspect of the Lord’s work. Hence, he steadfastly refused employment by any person or organization. In the early days of his ministry in Shanghai, there were times when all he had to eat each day was a little bread.
Watchman Nee was also frequently afflicted with serious ill health. For the first eleven years of his ministry, beginning in 1922, he suffered alone, with no wife to help him. During this time he contracted tuberculosis and suffered acutely for several years. In 1934 at the age of thirty, however, Watchman Nee married a true “help meet,” Charity Chang, although the Lord was to give them no children. In later years, he was also stricken with a chronic stomach disorder as well as angina pectoris, a serious heart ailment. He was never cured of the heart disease and could have died from it at any moment. In fact, many times he ministered not by physical strength but by resurrection life.
He also suffered for his belief that, according to the Bible, denominations are wrong in that they divide the one Body of Christ. Because his firm stand for the oneness of the Body of Christ was a testimony against the denominations, they caused him much suffering. Some despised, criticized, opposed, and did their best to destroy his ministry. They also spread false rumors about him and misrepresented him to the extent that Watchman Nee once responded, “The Watchman Nee portrayed by them I would also condemn.”
A number of brothers and sisters meeting with the local churches became another source of suffering to Watchman Nee. He found this type of suffering by far the most painful. Some of these believers caused a great deal of trouble due to their dissention, immaturity, incompetence, stubbornness, ambition for position, or rebelliousness. Two years after the church life began to be practiced in Watchman Nee’s hometown in 1922, he was even temporarily excommunicated by his own coworkers because of his stand for the truth of the Scriptures, when he protested the ordination of the leading coworkers by a denominational missionary. Although most of the believers meeting with them sided with Watchman Nee, the Lord would not allow him to do anything to vindicate himself. That was a deep suffering to his natural man.
The final source of suffering was his groundless condemnation and imprisonment. Watchman Nee was arrested during the Communist Cultural Revolution in March 1952 and was judged, falsely condemned, and unjustly sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment in 1956.
Watchman Nee was a man of sorrows and suffering. Along his entire path of following the Lamb, he suffered much. Through all these sufferings, however, he learned many lessons. These sufferings not only helped him learn to trust the Lord; they also benefited him in dealing with his flesh, his self, his soul, and his natural life. Due to his obedience to these dealings, he never passed on mere teachings and doctrines, for his messages contained the reality he had acquired through his sufferings. The experience he gained through his suffering served as an immeasurable help to all those under his ministry and also became a rich heritage to all the local churches, a heritage acquired by him at the ultimate price.
His sufferings also helped him to receive further revelation from the Lord. Certain kinds of suffering often issued in corresponding revelation. His sufferings thus often became the Lord’s revelation to him. He was purified, dealt with, broken, and constituted by the Holy Spirit with the divine life through his sufferings. Through such experiences of Christ within his sufferings, he, like Paul, was prepared and positioned to receive the Lord’s revelation.
Means of MinistryWatchman Nee’s rich ministry of life was the issue of his revelation and suffering. He used eight different means to carry out the ministry wrought into him by the Lord: preaching the gospel, teaching the Bible, traveling, contacting people, corresponding with people, holding conferences, conducting trainings, and producing publications.
Watchman Nee not only spoke frequently both privately and publicly, but he was also a prolific writer. His publications included gospel tracts, periodicals, papers, newsletters, books, hymnals, and a chart of biblical prophecies. For more details on his writings and a list of selected titles, please see Publications.
Three Parts: Continued in Part III – His Martyrdom
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Watchman Nee – Part I, Chinese Missionary Martyr
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Below from: www.watchmannee.org/ March 14, 2004, 11:00 am
Biography:
Watchman Nee became a Christian in mainland China in 1920 at the age of seventeen and began writing in the same year. Throughout the nearly thirty years of his ministry, Watchman Nee was clearly manifested as a unique gift from the Lord to His Body for His move in this age. In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972. His words remain an abundant source of spiritual revelation and supply to Christians throughout the world.
God’s Dynamic Salvation Work
Beginning in the sixteenth century, many Protestant missionaries were sent to China from Europe and America. In the opening years of the twentieth century, following centuries of faithful labor and catalyzed by the martyrdom of many Christians in the Boxer Rebellion, the Lord’s move in China advanced dramatically. Many “native” preachers were raised up by the Lord and became prevailing in gospel preaching, especially around 1920 among China’s new generation of high school and college students. A number of brilliant students, among whom was Nee Shu-tsu (Watchman Nee), were called and equipped by the Lord to do His work during this time.
Nee Shu-tsu, whose English name was Henry Nee, was born of second-generation Christian parents in Foochow, China in 1903. His paternal grandfather, in fact, had studied at the American Congregational College in Foochow and became the first Chinese pastor among the Congregationalists in northern Fukien province. Nee Shu-tsu had been consecrated to the Lord before his birth. Desiring a son, his mother had prayed to the Lord, “If I have a boy, I will present him to You.” The Lord answered her prayer, and soon afterward Nee Shu-tsu was born. His father later impressed on him, “Before you were born, your mother promised to present you to the Lord”.
Prior to his salvation Nee Shu-tsu was an ill-behaved student, yet he was also exceptionally intelligent. He always ranked first in his class as well as in his school, from elementary school through his graduation from Anglican Trinity College in Foochow. He had many grand dreams and plans for the future and could have had great success in the world. Yet Nee Shu-tsu, acquainted with the gospel since childhood, had the deep realization that if he received Jesus as his Lord for salvation he must also serve Him. In 1920, after a considerable struggle, seventeen-year-old Nee Shu-tsu, still a high school student, was dynamically saved. At the moment of his salvation, all his previous planning became void and his future career was entirely abandoned. He testified, “From the evening I was saved, I began to have a new life, for the life of the eternal God had entered into me”. Later, after being raised up by the Lord to carry out His commission, he adopted the new English name Watchman and the new Chinese name To-sheng, which means “watchman’s rattle,” for he considered himself a watchman raised up to sound a warning call in the dark night.
Equipping and Training
Watchman Nee attended no theological schools or Bible institutes. His wealth of knowledge concerning God’s purpose, Christ, the things of the Spirit, and the church was acquired through studying the Bible and reading spiritual books. Watchman Nee became intimately familiar with and greatly enlightened by the Word through diligent study using twenty different methods. In addition, in the early days of his ministry he spent one-third of his income on his personal needs, one-third on helping others, and the remaining third on spiritual books. He acquired a collection of more than 3,000 of the best Christian books, including nearly all the classical Christian writers from the first century on. He had a phenomenal ability to select, comprehend, discern, and memorize relevant material, and he could grasp and retain the main points of a book at a glance. Watchman Nee was thus able to glean all the profitable scriptural points and spiritual principles from throughout church history and synthesize them into his vision and practice of the Christian life and of the church life. Watchman Nee received much enlightenment and help from a number of Christian writers, as follows:
Specific Enlightenment Source1. The assurance of salvation – George Cutting, a Brethren writer
2. Life – John Bunyan’s Pilgram’s Progress, Madame Guyon’s biography, Hudson Taylor’s biography, other writings
3. Christ – J.G. Bellett, Charles G. Trumbull, A.B. Simpson, T. Austin Sparks, others
4. The Spirit – Andrew Murray’s “The Spirit of Christ”
5. The Three Parts of Man (body, soul, and spirit) – Jessie Penn-Lewis, Mary C. McDonough
6. Faith – George Müller’s autobiography
7. Abiding in Christ – Andrew Murray, Hudson Taylor’s biography
8. The subjective aspect of Christ’s death and spiritual warfare – Jessie Penn-Lewis
9. Christ’s resurrection and His Body – T. Austin Sparks, others
10. God’s plan of redemption – Mary McDonough
11. The church – John Nelson Darby, other Brethren teachers
12. Prophecy – Robert Govett, D.M. Panton, G.H. Pember, other Brethren writers
13. Church history – John Foxe, E.H. Broadbent, others
14. Bible exposition and many other truths, in general – John Nelson Darby, the Brethren
Watchman Nee became familiar with many of these books through Margaret Barber, a former Anglican missionary. Early in his Christian life he received much spiritual edification and perfection from her. Primarily through his fellowship with Miss Barber, Watchman Nee realized that to be a Christian is altogether a matter of the divine life. Through her shepherding, he learned to pay more attention to life than to work and to live by Christ as his life.
Revelation and Living
Through his fellowship with Miss Barber and others, along with his study of the Bible and numerous spiritual books, Watchman Nee received a wealth of revelation. He was truly a seer of the divine revelation. The core of his revelation was threefold: it concerned (1) the living of a crucified life, (2) the living of a resurrected life, and (3) the issue of such a living, the church. Related to the crucified life, he saw and experienced the subjective aspects of Christ’s death. He realized that he had been crucified with Christ, that it was no longer he that lived, but Christ Who lived in him. He also realized that in order to experience the death of Christ in a subjective way, he needed to bear the cross. Although he had been crucified with Christ in fact, he also had to remain in Christ’s crucifixion in his experience. He learned that to remain in Christ’s crucifixion was to bear the cross by refusing to allow the old man or the flesh to leave the cross. He realized that in order for him to have such an experience, God must sovereignly arrange his environment, making it a practical cross for him to bear. This is exactly what God did throughout Watchman Nee’s life.
From the very beginning of his ministry, God arranged numerous situations in which he had the opportunity to deny the self and the natural life by bearing the cross and living by Christ as his life. Watchman Nee saw that he had not only died with Christ, but had also risen with Him. The resurrected Christ with the fullness of the Spirit had become his life. It was by the resurrection life of the indwelling Christ that he was able to bear the cross and to participate in the fellowship of His sufferings and be conformed to His death. By the resurrection life of Christ, he abandoned the world, forsook his future, denied himself, was freed from sin, and overcame Satan. It was also by the resurrection life of Christ that he served the Lord, worked for Him, and carried out His commission. His contemporaries bore witness to the fact that he consistently rejected his natural strength in the Lord’s service. He feared the intrusion of his natural life into the Lord’s work; he therefore dared not minister apart from the indwelling Christ. In delivering messages, contacting people, writing articles, corresponding with the believers, and in mundane matters, he acted not by himself but by the resurrection life. It was by living such a resurrection life that he was able to pass through his extended martyrdom of twenty years’ imprisonment, which culminated in death.
Watchman Nee went on to see that the church as the Body of Christ was simply the enlargement, expansion, and expression of the resurrected Christ. His vision that Christ in resurrection was the life and content of the church was far advanced. According to this vision, he not only ministered by the resurrected Christ, but he also ministered the resurrected Christ Himself to the believers for the building up of His Body. He frequently emphasized the fact that anything which is not Christ in resurrection is not the church, and anything not done by the resurrected Christ is a foreign element in the Body. He desired to serve the church with nothing but the resurrected Christ. The more his ministry progressed, the more he ministered the resurrected Christ to the believers and to the local churches. The resurrected Christ became not only his life and living, but also his message and ministry.
Burden and Commission
The divine revelation which Watchman Nee saw resulted in the Lord’s twofold burden and commission to him: first, to bear a particular testimony of the Lord Jesus, and second, to establish local churches. The first burden and commission arose from his personal depth of knowledge and experience of Christ’s all-inclusive death and resurrection. The Lord specifically burdened and commissioned him to bear testimony to this truth. He faithfully responded to this burden by releasing a number of spoken and written messages on the subjective aspect of the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection, on the principles of life, on the supremacy of Christ, and on God’s eternal purpose.
However, Watchman Nee’s ultimate burden was not just to elevate the individual believers’ experience of Christ, but to establish and build up the practical corporate expression of Christ in the local churches for the satisfaction of God’s desire. This was the ultimate commission he received from the Lord based on what he had seen and experienced of Him. His personal testimony recorded on October 20, 1936 described this commission:
What the Lord revealed to me was extremely clear: Before long He would raise up local churches in various parts of China. Whenever I closed my eyes, the vision of the birth of local churches appeared…
When the Lord called me to serve Him, the primary objective was not to hold revival meetings, help people hear more scriptural doctrines, or for me to become a great evangelist. The Lord revealed to me that He desired to build up local churches in various places to manifest Himself and to bear the testimony of unity on the ground of the local churches. In this way, each saint [believer] is able to function in the church and live the church life. What God wants is not individuals trying to be victorious or spiritual; He wants a corporate glorious church presented to Himself.
Three Parts: Continued Part II – His Suffering
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Christian Devotional Resources
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Christian Devotions
Blackaby Recommended Reading List
Blue Letter Bible – Devotional Resources
Christ-Centered: Devotion & prayer net
Collected Works of Watchman Nee
E-Sword – Complete Free Bible Study Resource
Fredrick W. Robertson: Sermons of 150 yrs ago
My Utmost for His Highest – Devotions
Olive Tree – Download Free Devotionals
The Narrow Way Ministry – Devotions
The Word Hand (Methods of Bible Learning)
Times Square Church – David Wilkerson
See Transformation. A powerful video produced by George Otis, Jr. and The Sentinel Group. Designed to show churches and communities that God does indeed move when they pray.
Recommended by PRAY! Magazine for use with small groups, churches, and community gatherings. Call 800-668-5657.
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New Site for Christian News
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