In the fall of 1967 a leader of a Bible study in Reedley, California mentioned to his class the writings of Brother Watchman Nee and the “little flock”, the local churches raised up by him in mainland China in the 1930s. One of the couples attending the Bible study told him that Watchman Nee’s leading co-worker, Witness Lee, was living and ministering in Los Angeles. They also told him that there was a church in Los Angeles meeting in the same way as the “little flock” and encouraged him to visit when he could.
Later that year or early in 1968, this brother was scheduled to attend a continuing education class in Southern California for his business. He went a day early and visited the church in Los Angeles, attending their Lord’s table meeting at Elden Hall. The meeting was very enjoyable to him, and many members greeted him afterwards, urging him to stay in the church guesthouse, the Magnolia house, during his week of training. Accepting their offer, he was able to participate in the church life there for one week. When he returned to Reedley, he was very excited to have touched something of the Lord that was so living and enjoyable. He learned how to contact the Lord in a living way by calling on the Lord’s name and by pray-reading His Word, that is, praying the Scripture out loud. Reporting his experience to his Bible study group, he urged them all to go visit the church in Los Angeles.
As the relationship developed, different brothers and sisters would come from the church in Los Angeles to visit the Bible study group. On those occasions special meetings were held. In one of those meetings, the brothers shared about pray-reading. Finding this way to take in the Lord to be so enjoyable and living, the believers in Reedley shared it with others. By late spring and early summer, 1968, about forty people were meeting twice a week to pray-read the Bible. Brother Witness Lee heard about this and agreed to hold a little conference in Dinuba, California over the Memorial Day weekend. About forty brothers and sisters from Los Angeles came to join the meetings, which were held in the backyard of one of the Bible study members and at Immanuel High School in Reedley. After this conference, some of the Bible study members decided to withdraw from their denomination and began to meet together in Reedley according to the new vision they were receiving from the Lord. They continued to meet in this way until some moved to Fresno to begin meeting as the church here in the fall of 1973. At that time a number of brothers and sisters moved to Fresno from various places to strengthen the church here. Since 1975, we have been meeting both in homes and at a facility at 1570 East Swift Avenue.
via History.
