AP in the Philippines
Three years ago, Dale and Karen Byrum, a missionary couple who work in the Philippines, contacted us about getting some Truth Be Told books to use in the Philippines. Karen had a plan to organize multiple “Truth Be Told” seminars throughout the country that would be conducted by local speakers and deal with the topics in the book. Through the generous help of our AP supporters, we were able to donate about 2,500 copies, and the Byrums raised the funds to ship them. The seminars turned out to be a huge success, and each attendee received a copy of the book. In addition, many of the books were given to school students and others who needed the information, and they shipped another 2,000 Always Be Ready books a few months ago. As a result of the work that they were doing, I was invited to speak at a national a cappella singing event in the Isabela province, in the city of Ilagan, this past November (2025).
This was my first trip to Asia and my first trip to the Philippines. The flight from Nashville to San Francisco was about five hours. Interestingly, I was providentially seated by an atheist on this leg of the trip who lived in a Muslim country. We talked for almost four hours about God and the Bible. In the course of the discussion, he brought up the idea of a loving God and slavery in the Bible. I happened to have an Always Be Ready book that deals with that topic in chapter eight, which I pulled out of my carry-on bag and showed him. We had a great conversation, and I was able to get his contact information, and we are in communication. After that, the flight from San Fransico to Manila took about 15 hours, with another quick flight from Manila to Ilagan. All the travel went smoothly, and I arrived in Ilagan on Friday evening, prepared to speak on Saturday at the national singing. On Friday night, however, we learned that the super typhoon Fung-Wong was coming in. Thankfully, the national singing still took place, and I spoke to several hundred members of the Lord’s Church on Saturday morning. Because the Filipinos study English from an early age in school, I did not need a translator. The Byrums had shipped over Truth Be Told and Always Be Ready books to distribute at the event. Many of the attendees came from long distances. One young man drove a motorcycle about 10 hours to attend.
After speaking Saturday morning, Dale Byrum and I flew back to Manila to get to the capital before the typhoon hit. I preached twice on Sunday morning at the Metro South church of Christ in Manila and got back to my hotel room that evening before the storm hit. While there was damage in several places in the Philippines, we were safe in Manila and the Lord answered many prayers. On Tuesday, I spoke at an Always Be Ready seminar at the Metro South congregation. Groups from numerous congregations came, some riding buses for more than six hours to be there, and then riding them back when the event ended that night. Because of some geo-fenced advertising that AP did before I got there, we had several visitors who were not associated with the Lord’s Church at all. The local brethren were rather surprised and excited to make these new contacts. We had a book signing, meal, and I preached two lessons: “The Problem of Evil,” and “Hell and a Loving God.” The event lasted from about 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
Overall, the trip was eye-opening for me. I had no idea that people in the Philippines access our Apologetics Press materials to the extent they do. Many of the Christians had watched countless hours of our videos (as well as those of GBN and World Video Bible School). The Bible schools and training schools used our materials in their instructions. And the local church members used our articles and written material for Bible study and evangelism purposes. It turns out about 10% of our Facebook followers are from the Philippines, and over 40,000 Filipinos have visited our website this year.
Furthermore, I was impressed by the sincerity and strength of the local Christians and congregations, the work being done by Dale and Karen Byrum, the hospitality and kindness of the Filipino people in general, the lengths the Christians would travel to be a part of spiritual activities and Christian fellowship, and the care that God continues to provide His people as they strive to further the borders of His Kingdom. The trip reminded me that God is working all over the world, and He uses the generosity and kindness of so many people to provide for the spiritual and physical needs of His Church. It was such a privilege to get to see what God is doing through AP, and the work of so many others, in the Philippines.
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