At the end of December 1936, I received a cable from Watchman Nee asking me to come to Shanghai immediately for an urgent conference of all the co-workers. Peace Wang, Chang Yu-tzu, a third co-worker, and myself arrived at Shanghai early on the morning of January 1, 1937. Watchman met us at the station, and the conference started the same day. In that conference, messages were released which now form the substance of the book entitled The Normal Christian Church Life. During the conference he became ill with a cold. He called me to his bedside and charged me to deliver the message which he intended to release on Acts 13. After receiving all the points from him, I did as he desired and delivered the message, but I must confess that it was very inadequate. Eventually, after he recovered, he gave that message again himself.
One day during this conference time, he took me to see the construction work of the training center he had planned to build at Chenru, a suburb of Shanghai. He related to me how he was burdened to pass on to the Lord's young seeking ones some practical training on life, on the church, and on the work. The construction work of the training center was damaged by the invading Japanese in August 1937 before it was completed.
At that time the decision was made that I should travel throughout all the provinces of northern China to preach and teach in the denominations. We felt at that time that we should pass on all the light the Lord had given us to the denominations. In the summer and in the fall of that year, I did much traveling in the northwestern provinces of Suiyuan, Shansi, and Shensi with Sister Peace Wang and others.
In that summer Japan invaded China, and many of the co-workers fled from the coast to the interior. At Sian, the last station of our journey in the northwest, we received a cable from Watchman Nee that we should go to Hankow in the central part of China to meet with him and the co-workers for a co-workers' conference. Peace Wang and I proceeded there by train. While waiting in Hankow for Brother Nee to arrive, I received a cable from the elders in Chefoo urging me to return to care for my family because of the Japanese invasion. After I left Hankow, Watchman arrived and delivered the messages of The Normal Christian Church Life the second time in the co-workers' conference. After returning to Chefoo, I could not leave again because of the war, so for a period of time I was retained in northern China while most of the other co-workers were in the interior.
In August 1939, after Watchman Nee came back to Shanghai from London to hold a conference concerning the Body of Christ, he cabled me to attend this conference. At that time I was traveling and working in the central part of my province with four young co-workers. All five of us proceeded to Shanghai for the conference. In all the meetings of the conference, I was invited by Brother Nee to read the Scripture verses before he spoke. It was during that conference in 1939 that my eyes were opened to see the Body of Christ.
As his guest at this conference, I was again brought into close contact with Watchman. He related portions of his European trip to me, making me clear concerning the real situation of the Lord's interest in England and in northern Europe.
Following the conference I returned to Chefoo, intending to come to Brother Nee's training in Shanghai. The following April, I and a few others attended the training and stayed there for approximately two months.
One day while walking with him down the stairway of the meeting hall, he said to me, "We have the blueprint of God's plan in our hand." That puzzled me. "What is 'the blueprint'?" I said to myself. As time went on I discovered what he was practicing in Shanghai concerning the practicality of the church life. I took "the blueprint" back to the north and put it into practice in Chefoo for about two years.