While I was away in the north, Watchman conducted a series of meetings with the church in Shanghai in February 1934 following his conference. The meetings also included the conference attendants who stayed on after the conference, and the purpose of the meetings was to study the Bible concerning the assembly life. I came back to Shanghai from Chefoo in May. The day after my arrival, Watchman came to my place, threw a bundle of articles to me, and said, "Please write a preface for these articles." When I opened the bundle, I was so happy to see that the articles were composed of the messages given by him in the Bible study meetings while I was away. I could not stop until I had finished reading all four chapters. The most striking point in all the chapters concerned the boundary of the local church. After reading the chapters, I wrote a preface to them. They were published as a book under the title The Assembly Life.
During the period after I returned to Shanghai, Brother Nee's health was not good. During most of the meetings, he either rested or was away elsewhere. He spoke mostly during the conference times. The burden for the ministry in the regular meetings was left to me.
Brother Nee bore the main responsibility for two publications: The Present Testimony and The Christian. The publication of The Christian was suspended for a period of seven years, during which he published only The Present Testimony. In 1934 the decision was made with many co-workers to resume the publication of The Christian, and I was asked to edit it. I bore this responsibility until 1940.
From the end of 1933, Watchman Nee also issued a paper with news of the work and the churches entitled Collection of Newsletters. The eldest sister co-worker among us, Ruth Lee, was appointed to be acting editor of that paper. When she was away from Shanghai, I had the responsibility of editing that paper also.
Through all these responsibilities, a tremendous opportunity was opened to me to learn how to work for the Lord in His recovery, how to help others grow in life, how to build the church with life, and how to care for the publication ministry. Having been sovereignly placed under Brother Nee's leadership, by the Lord's mercy and grace, I learned many lessons in the matter of life, in the practice of the church, and in caring for the work in a living way. What I learned during this time laid a solid foundation for my future. How I thank the Lord for this! How grateful I am to Brother Nee for his perfecting work and for his gracious and wise dealings with me.
With all of us staying in Shanghai together, we were enabled to have much helpful contact. On one occasion the two of us were driving to a dairy ranch in a suburb of Shanghai to visit some brothers. During our ride we fellowshipped about the situation between us and the denominations. As we were considering the fact that the denominations were rejecting our testimony, he said, "From now on we must turn to the Gentiles like the apostles did in Acts 13:46." This opened my eyes to see something more of the Lord's way.
In the summer of 1934, he traveled with four of us brothers, driving the car himself, to visit four provinces, Kiangsu, Chekiang, Kiangsi, and Anhwei, to look into the situation in these places regarding the Lord's move. While traveling with him on this trip, I realized that he was a person who loved the Lord with his whole heart, and that he was also a person who had deep insight and foresight concerning many things. We five brothers from five different provinces, ranging from the far north to the far south, traveled and lodged together for a number of days. We enjoyed Brother Nee's helpful building-up fellowship and the Lord's presence with the oneness and harmony in the spirit. I could never forget the precious and sweet experiences of those golden days in the heavenlies!