The Reading of Faith, Nancy Wang

It was a happy day when Jesus took my heart from the black of night into the kingdom of His light! I had grown up attending children's church meetings and had always heard about the Lord Jesus, but as a young person I was cynical and rebellious. I would not participate in any church activities, except for competitive ones, knowing that by my cleverness I would win prizes. Yes, my heart was softened toward the Lord after I had a major illness at the age of 12, but soon after that I fell back into my old state of godlessness.

It was not until I left my country to go to Canada, sent by my parents to pursue a “higher and better education”, that the Lord fully captured me. I was bored with high school, so I spent a lot of time reading novels. Since my older sister was a fervent lover of Christ, she would often take me along with her to the meetings of the local church. Sometimes I would sit for hours as they watched a videotaped message of an old gentleman, Witness Lee, speaking on the book of Exodus. In the meetings, the believers would call on the name of the Lord and sing with great happiness. Witness Lee's speaking was profound and mysterious to me, but nonetheless I somehow enjoyed listening to him. Though I had heard of him, I had never heard him speak until now. Soon afterward, I decided to try reading some of his writings and that of his close co-worker, Watchman Nee, and through this the Lord took the opportunity to slowly draw me. I would end up spending hours reading these books, something quite different from reading my usual novel! I was so captivated and refreshed, and I would feel so happy and inwardly satisfied after reading just a few sentences.

I didn't realize that the Lord was already working in me to save me into His wonderful purpose through the precious truths revealed in the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. I began to apply and experience the Lord washing me and cleansing me of my past with His precious blood (1 John 1:9). I also began to experience many the truths that were presented in the Bible through their writings, such as regeneration (John 3:6-7), renewing (Romans 12:2), and transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18).

By now, I had fully fallen in love with the Lord Jesus. I would look forward the bi-annual Bible trainings held by Witness Lee, which always emphasized not only the doctrinal truths of the Bible but also encouraged us to subjectively live and experience all the truths we heard. I am very thankful for the faithful teaching of Witness Lee and Watchman Nee. I would like to “continue in the things which [I] have learned and have been assured of, knowing from which ones [I] have learned them” (2 Timothy 3:14). Without their faithful and unadulterated ministering of the pure Word of God, this believer in Christ could only be superficial and shallow, and God would not be able to accomplish his purpose either.