The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from February 5 through December 19, 1979. After ministering in Central California and the San Francisco Bay Area in the middle of January, Brother Lee remained in Anaheim until the middle of April. He then made a short visit to Berkeley, California, after which he returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of the first week in May. On the weekend of May 11 through 13, Brother Lee ministered in Austin and Houston, Texas, after which he returned to Anaheim and remained there until the Memorial Day weekend. On that weekend Brother Lee gave a conference in New York City. After returning to Anaheim, he remained there until the end of September. On the last weekend in September Brother Lee traveled to Seattle, Washington, after which he returned to Anaheim and remained there until the first part of October. From that time until the first week in November, Brother Lee was in the Far East, where he visited Taipei, Taiwan; Quezon City and Manila, Philippines; Hong Kong; Singapore; and Tokyo, Japan. Brother Lee returned to Anaheim and remained there until the middle of November. Near the end of the month he ministered in Dallas, Texas. He returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into ten sections, as follows: 1. Twenty messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 5 through December 3. They were previously published in a book entitled Basic Lessons on Service and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Five messages given in Berkeley, California, on April 13 through 15. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Heart of the Bible and the Central Revelation of the Bible. 3. Five messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 25 through 27. These messages were combined into four chapters and are included in this volume under the title The Completion and Recovery of the Divine Revelation in the Word. 4. Two messages given in Anaheim, California, on July 13 and 27. They are included in this volume under the title Messages on Colossians. 5. Ten messages given in Anaheim, California, on August 15 through 26. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Genuine Ground of Oneness and are included in this volume under the same title. 6. Six messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, and in Hong Kong on October 15 through 30. These messages were previously published in Chinese in The Ministry of the Word in 1980. They were also previously published in English under the title Praying Unceasingly and Living in the Spirit and are included in this volume under the same title. 7. Nine messages given in Manila, Philippines, on October 22 through 26. These messages were previously published in Chinese in The Ministry of the Word from 1980 to 1981. They were also previously published in English under the title The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints and are included in this volume under the same title. 8. Three messages given in Dallas, Texas, on November 23 and 24. These messages are included in this volume under the title Elders' Fellowship in Dallas. 9. A message given in Dallas, Texas, on November 24. This message is included in this volume under the title A Brief History of the Lord's Recovery of the Church Life. 10. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on December 17 through 19. They are included in this volume under the title Seeing a Vision of Christ for the Church and Responding to Christ's Heavenly Ministry by Praying.
Born in 1905 in northern China, Witness Lee was raised in a Christian family and educated in English-speaking schools. At the age of 19 he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and consecrated himself to preach the gospel. Early in his service, Witness Lee met Watchman Nee and began to labor together with him. In 1949 Witness Lee was sent by Watchman Nee to Taiwan to ensure that the things delivered to them by the Lord would be preserved. In 1962 Witness Lee came to the United States and began to minister here. He ministered in weekly conferences, delivering several thousand spoken messages until 1997. He gave his last public conference in February 1997 at the age of 91. His major work, Life-Study of the Bible, comprises over 25,000 pages of commentary on every book of the Bible from the perspective of the believers' enjoyment and experience of God's divine life in Christ through the Spirit.