The Recovery of the Local Churches

The Spread of the Local Churches

3. In the West

In 1962, Witness Lee moved to the United States for the spread of the local churches. Moreover, beginning in 1964 Witness Lee began to see more regarding God’s eternal plan as it is unveiled throughout the New Testament. He explains:

In 1962 I came to the United States and began the work of the Lord’s recovery in this country. During the past thirty years there has been even further progress in the seeing of the divine revelation. On mainland China we did not emphasize the term economy. Instead of the word economy, Brother Nee used the word plan. In his books he used the term God’s eternal plan; he never used the word economy. After coming to the United States, I did not have the thought of God’s economy until 1964. In that year I spoke the messages published in the book The Economy of God. It was at that time that I began to use the word economy, which is the anglicized form of the Greek word oikonomia. Later, beginning from 1984, I began to stress God’s dispensing for the accomplishment of God’s economy. In 1990 I spoke strongly on the divine economy and the divine dispensing (see “A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing, The Economy and Dispensing of God, and The Divine Dispensing for the Divine Economy", published by Living Stream Ministry). I say this to illustrate how the Lord has shown us the divine things in a progressive way.

(Witness Lee, Christian Life, 167-168)

However, the spread of the local churches in the West actually began in the United States as early as 1958. It then spread to other coutries in the Western world. Witness Lee remarks:

In 1958 the church life spread to the United States beginning in San Francisco. In 1959 the church life spread to Brazil, in 1963 to Canada, in 1965 to South Korea, in 1970 to New Zealand and Australia, in 1971 to Germany and Nigeria, and in 1972 to Ghana. These years and places will give us some view of the spreading of the church life on this earth.

(Witness Lee, History of the Church, 60)

In the 1990s, the spread of the local churches in the United States resulted in about 15,000 believers, meeting with the local churches. Witness Lee comments:

After thirty years of my ministry in the United States, the number of saints in the local churches throughout the United States is approximately fifteen thousand.

(Witness Lee, Church Life, 113)

4. In Russia

Eventually, in 1992 the spread of the local churches reached as far as Russia. Witness Lee states:

In Moscow, after five weeks of gospel conferences, we baptized approximately two thousand new believers. Then, in April 1992, after five weeks of conferences in St. Petersburg, we baptized more than five thousand. By the end of 1992 we may baptize more than ten thousand Russians.

(Witness Lee, Church Life, 113)

Having completed their study, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee began with greater clarity to describe the local aspect of a church:

The jurisdiction of a local church should cover the whole city in which the church is; it should not be greater or lesser than the boundary of the city. All the believers within that boundary should constitute the unique local church within that city. Hence, one church equals one city, and one city equals one church. This is what we call the local churches.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 20)

Main

The Reformation

The Moravian Brethren

The Plymouth Brethren

A New Beginning

Watchman Nee’s Calling

Watchman Nee’s Revelation

Watchman Nee’s Care for the Local Churches

The Local Church in Foochow, China

Witness Lee’s Revelation

The Spread of the Local Churches

Bibliography

Links