20 Years in Prison
Watchman Nee was arrested by the Chinese Communists in 1952. He would spend the next 20 years in prison, dying there in 1972.
His crime? Faithfully shepherding the Chinese house church movement.
In prison, Nee was forbidden to preach, pray aloud, or possess a Bible. His family was allowed one brief visit per year. He was subjected to hard labor and "re-education."
Praying in His Heart
Yet those who knew him in prison reported something remarkable: Nee radiated peace.
"He never complained," one fellow prisoner recalled. "He prayed silently and constantly. The guards couldn't stop a man from praying in his heart."
The Note Under His Pillow
On the day Nee died, guards found a note hidden under his pillow. Written in shaky handwriting were his final words:
"Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and was raised after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ."
Watchman Nee never saw freedom again. But his books—"The Normal Christian Life," "Sit, Walk, Stand"—have shaped millions of believers worldwide.
His prison became his pulpit. His suffering became his sermon.
