Why did Watchman Nee invest in little home Bible studies?
Watchman Nee invested in little home Bible studies because he did not teach much in the organized local church. He used them throughout Shanghai to prepare believers, without their realizing it, for the day when organized church doors would be locked, so those small studies could continue underground and preserve believers.
Les explains that Watchman Nee was a Bible teacher in China just before the communists took over. Nee did much the same as Les and many others: he never taught that much in the local organized church, but taught in little home Bible studies all over Shanghai. He was preparing those believers, without their knowing it, for the day when the organized church doors were locked. Because the studies were small and home-based, they could just continue on. When access to China opened years later, the Western world was aghast at all the believers still in China. The little home Bible studies had gone underground but were not destroyed, while the organized church was destroyed. Les warns that we may face the same thing someday, with churches locked and believers forbidden, but it will be hard to stop three or four families meeting together in their own home. That is also how the church started—not with huge congregations, but with a few meeting in a home atmosphere.