In creation God ordained that man should replenish the earth and have dominion over all created things (Gen. 1:28). In redemption the Lord commissioned His disciples to go into all the world to preach the gospel and disciple all the nations for His kingdom on earth (Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:19). Following Pentecost, the territory around the Mediterranean Sea was evangelized in less than half a century, and the gospel was spread to Europe within the first two centuries. However, it was confined there for over ten centuries. Following the discovery of America the gospel was brought to the Western Hemisphere through European immigration, but it never properly spread to the Far East before the defeat of Spain.
The Nestorians brought their religion from Persia to China in the seventh century. Nestorianism was a deviation from the divine revelation. It was not the pure gospel of life. Three emperors of the Tang Dynasty in China received this religion. However, after two centuries Nestorianism was banned and vanished because of its inaccuracy and lack of life. After that, there was no trace of Christianity in China in any form until the arrival of the Franciscans in the thirteenth century and the Jesuits in the sixteenth century. They, with their Western learning, were also lifeless and full of traditional ordinances. They were not prevailing in winning the conservative Chinese, who were saturated with the ethical teachings of Confucius and misled by the superstitions of Buddhism. It was only from the beginning of the nineteenth century that the pure gospel and the Bible were brought to China.
After the defeat of Spain, which was the power of the Catholic-dominated world in the sixteenth century, many Protestant missions under God's sovereign grace were raised up both in Europe and in America to send hundreds of missionaries to heathen countries. More missionaries were sent to China than to any other country. Robert Morrison landed in Canton, capital of the southernmost province of China, in the early years of the nineteenth century. The Congregationalists, Methodists, and Anglicans came to the southern province of Fukien. The American Presbyterians and the Southern Baptists arrived in the northern province of Shantung. The Christian and Missionary Alliance reached the international port of Shanghai. The China Inland Mission pioneered a number of inland provinces, and other missions settled in many other territories. Many of these missionaries, especially the pioneers, were men of God. They sacrificed much for the Lord's commission and suffered a great deal for the gospel. Through their pioneering work, many doors in China were opened and thousands of people who were in darkness and sin were led to the Lord and received the Lord's salvation. These missionaries brought with them three treasures: the Lord's name, which is the Lord Himself, the gospel, and the Bible. We thank the Lord for this! However, the gospel was not adequately presented to the educated Chinese class, and the truth concerning life and the church was not effectually released until the first decade of the twentieth century.
In 1900 Satan instigated the Boxer Rebellion. In this uprising many missionaries and a great number of Chinese believers were martyred. Satan's intention was to terminate the Lord's move in China. But under God's sovereignty this persecution aroused a great burden among the saints in the Western world to pray desperately for the Lord's move in China. We believe it was through the Lord's answer to those desperate prayers that some prevailing evangelists among the Chinese believers were raised up after the Boxer Rebellion. These "native" preachers became prevailing in gospel preaching, and their preaching reached the students of China's new generation. Around the year 1920 the gospel penetrated many schools, and a good number of high school and college students were captured by the Lord throughout the country from the far north to the far south. A number of brilliant ones were called and equipped by the Lord to do His work.
One of these outstanding students was Nee Shu-tsu. His English name was Henry Nee. His paternal grandfather, Nee Yu-cheng, studied in the American Congregational College in Foochow and became the first Chinese pastor in northern Fukien among the Congregationalists. Nee Shu-tsu's paternal grandmother was a student in the American Congregational Girls' College in Foochow. His father, Nee Wen-shiu, a second generation Christian, studied in the American Methodist College in Foochow. Nee Wen-shiu was well trained in classical Chinese and became an officer in the Chinese customs. Nee Shu-tsu's mother, Lin Ho-ping, also a second generation Christian, studied in the Chinese Western Girls' School in Shanghai. This school maintained a high English standard. Nee Shu-tsu, a third generation Christian, studied in the Anglican Trinity College in Foochow. This school was a two-year college which maintained a high standard both in Chinese and English. After being raised up by the Lord to carry out His commission, he adopted the new English name Watchman Nee and the new Chinese name To-sheng, which means, the sound of a watchman's rattle. As a newly regenerated Christian, called by the Lord, he considered himself a watchman, raised up to give the sound of a rattle to people in the dark night. He eventually became, by the Lord's bountiful mercy and grace, a unique gift to this age. Watchman Nee was given by the Lord to His Body for His move of recovery on the earth, not only in China but also throughout the entire world.