The Local Churches of Witness Lee were pretty awesome in the 1950s

Back in the 1950s, the Local Church movement under Witness Lee in Taiwan actually resembled the Charismatic movement in many ways.

My Grandma joined a local church in Taipei around this time after she became a believer. She loves the Lord dearly and I am so thankful to her because I'm only where I am today in Christ because of her fervent prayers. She's a woman of prayer and one of the Christians in my life from whom I can sense a glowing light with my spiritual eyes whenever I see her interact with other people.

That said, my Grandma lived a really colorful life and she used to tell us some pretty crazy stories of how life in the early LCs was like in the 1950s back in Taiwan.

It was like the wild wild west of Christianity. There weren't many mature Christians at the time who knew the bible well because everyone was a new believer. The christians in the early LCs in Taiwan simply read the bible and tried to follow it with little preconceptions. Demons were being cast out, people were being healed, lives were being transformed for Jesus! The supernatural power of God was breaking out everywhere just like in the early church of Acts and people were being wowed by the works of the Holy Spirit. People in the church actually didn't love the world back then and were very loose with their possessions-- they would give freely to other bros and sisters in need.

My Grandma actually received what we know today as "words of knowledge" when she went to heal the sick. She would just know in her mind a secret sin the person had and she would tell them to confess it and repent! After the person did, the sickness would go away. (In my worldview, my Grandma just saved that person's soul. Them being sick was the merciful thing otherwise they never would have repented regardless of whether or not they were "believers".)

And the hilarious thing was no one really *understood* the bible when they read it. My Grandma said a lot of things didn't make sense but she kept reading. Yet God in his grace and mercy honored her faith. When she'd go out to preach the gospel, a specific verse would pop into her mind when she needed it-- instructing her what to do! The word of God is living and active! It's meant to be applied and not just stored up in our heads. As James said be doers of the word and not just hearers deceiving yourselves!

So there were many such stories as this. One time they built a pagan temple next to my Grandma's house. The incense and smoke would rise so heavily next to the house and my Grandma was worried about the demonic presence that came with it. She sat down and prayed that God would protect her home and her children (she was raising 8 children by herself as a single mom by the way! God came through for her in so many ways even though they were dirt poor but they never lacked anything because my Grandma put both *God's kingdom* and *his righteousness* first before everything else).

My mom told me after my Grandma's prayer, one day my aunt who was maybe four or five at the time was lying in her bed when she looked out the window. She saw rows of angels above our house singing hymns in answer to my Grandma's prayer of protection! I was blown away and so touched by God's love for my Grandma and my family when I heard this. I realized that it's possible God does so many things in love for us and many times we don't even realize it because our spiritual eyes are closed! Who are we, that the Creator of heaven and earth should care for us so deeply?