[2] When attending the London Missionary Society, Wei was also influenced by Cheng Jingyi, and espoused some teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
[3] In 1915, Wei met Norwegian missionary to China Bernt Berntsen, became a Pentecostal and joined his Apostolic Faith Mission.
They hailed Wei as “the new Martin Luther,” commissioned by Jesus to reform and restore the genuine Christian Church.
[2] Despite oppositions, including by Berntsen, who sued Wei claiming he had defrauded him of revenues of a business partnership they had established together, the True Jesus Church was able to gather several thousand members.
The True Jesus Church was severely persecuted before and during the Cultural Revolution, but was again allowed to operate in China in the 1980s, gathering again a substantial following.