Enjoying the Riches of Christ in the Local Churches, Robert and Mary Rhea

I have been enjoying the Lord Jesus Christ in the local church meetings in Houston, Texas since 1972. When my husband and I first came to a church meeting we felt that we were at home even though we did not know the other believers there. The fellowship of these believer, the oneness of the Spirit, and the reality of Christ's living in the daily life of each one was so refreshing and real, like nothing we had experienced in the denomination which we had faithfully attended for eleven years. What we had seen spoken in the Word, the Bible, we saw lived out in their lives. This was so new and wonderful! I remember telling a friend, “this is so real it is unreal.” After 27 years I can say that I enjoy sweet Christian fellowship in the local churches because the oneness here is based upon the faith of the Lord Jesus Himself and every word of God as written in the Bible.

My husband and I have continued our schooling, gotten our Master's degrees, and are both university professors. We have raised four children, and they all love the Lord and are living dedicated Christian lives. Two have their college degrees and two are still in college. Our two oldest are married and we have five wonderful grandchildren. We feel our children's proper humanity is directly related to our rearing them in the local church. We have found that the Lord Jesus is a real, living Person, and He wants us to come to Him daily in an intimate way. Our children have been saved from the damage of this present age by having such an intimate, real walk with the Lord.

We must give a special thanks to two Christian authors, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, who were willing to sacrifice many things in their earthly lives to study God's word, to research the truths which God has revealed in the spiritual writings of the church fathers of the past, and to dedicate their lives to the continuation of the fellowship of the gospel and the recovery of the practice of the church as revealed in the Bible. These brothers, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, have both gone to be with the Lord, but they have left us a rich heritage in the many spiritual books which they wrote for all Christians to enjoy.