I would like to relate one more complicated case which caused Brother Nee to suffer greatly. This case was related to his marriage. By 1934 at the age of thirty-two, Brother Nee was still not married. The circumstances surrounding his marriage became a difficult situation for him. He was married to Sister Charity Chang, Brother Samuel Chang's sister, on October 19, 1934, the day after a ten-day conference.
A short while after Brother Nee's wedding, there was a big turmoil. This turmoil came from two directions. The first direction was from Brother Chang's aunt. Brother Chang and his sisters lost their parents when they were young, and they were under the care of their aunt. His aunt did not agree with her niece marrying such a "poor preacher." At that time in China, a preacher was looked upon as a poor beggar, especially by those of the higher class. Although the aunt would not agree with the marriage, her niece, Charity, was very much for Brother Nee, so they were married. After their marriage, the aunt continued to oppose. Some of those in Christianity found out about this and joined with her. This was the second direction of the turmoil.
One day Brother Nee came to me and told me that according to his knowledge there had never been such a problem with someone's wedding. Their names were even in the biggest newspaper in Shanghai. After he had this time with me, I could not find him for a few days. Eventually, I found out that he went far away from Shanghai to another province.
Now I would like to share about the biggest "storm" in the churches in China. In order to understand why this storm occurred, we need to know the background of the situation in China at that time. In the early days of the Lord's recovery in China, the financial situation among the Chinese was not good. Still, a number of saints were raised up to serve the Lord by faith.
I would like to share a personal testimony as an example of the way we lived. In 1936 I was sent by the work to northern China to work in Tientsin, close to Peking, the capital. In those days the work would send people without supplying them with anything for their need. If there was the feeling for someone to go somewhere, they went by faith, without help from the work for their material supply. That was our practice in the early days.
When I was in Tientsin, I realized that I needed a bicycle to help me travel in such a large city. I had a little over forty dollars, just enough money to bring my wife and three children from my hometown to join me. I went to the Lord to ask Him how He felt about my purchasing a bicycle. I was so clear within that the Lord wanted me to have one although I did not have any money to buy it. The Lord gave me the assurance within that He would meet this need. This took place on Saturday.