Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy at his healing crusade.

From the pigeonhole:

Hundreds of people packed international television evangelist Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy’s recent concert and healing crusades inVan Nuys, California. The Airtel Plaza Hotel, beside the Van Nuys airport, and the sprawling compound of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name along Vanowen St. were standing room only during the two consecutive concert and healing crusades.

Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy had come straight to Van Nuys from the Philippines for the first leg of his North American Tour, which also includes key cities in Canada. He brought along with him his regular camera crew and directors, as well as a team of singers and musicians, who regularly accompany him in his worldwide tours. The Kingdom is firmly established all over the US and Canada, as well as all over Asia, Europe and Australia.

People came from Van Nuys and nearby cities of Panorama, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, Carson City, Long Beach, Glendale, Torrance, even Anaheim and Temecula as well as Stockton, Delano, Fresno, Daly City and San Francisco, and many of those who had heard about Pastor Apollo’s liberating message of salvation even flew all the way from New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, Montana, Florida and even as far as Hawaii just to receive a message they knew no one except this Filipino pastor has ever preached before.

Hevoy Russel, a Jamaican who has been living in the US for more than 12 years said that “the Kingdom is wonderful and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity once you step in there and you’re instantly adorned with God’s blessings and given everything you need and you smile. And people treat you like royalty. The Kingdom is everything and all you need is faith. If you have faith then you need nothing more.”

Ed Joe Arnett, an American who has been attending the thanksgiving and worship presentations at the Kingdom’s Vanowen compound for two months now said that he has continued listening to Pastor Apollo because “he introduced me into a life that includes the Father and that’s really something... now I am reading the Bible... I just want to follow His will, I want to live the way He wants me to,” he said.

Race, religion and educational background did not come between the listeners and Pastor Apollo’s message, as Americans, Filipinos, Mexicans, Africans, Europeans and other nationalities easily took to the preaching they heard, which dwelt mainly on how important reconnecting with the Almighty Father is for every human being, and how through the Father’s Appointed Son, people around the world are now able to return to Him and obey the Father’s will in their lives. This, Pastor Apollo stressed in his preaching, is the key to attaining salvation and becoming sons and daughters of the Father.

Many of those who attended, like Keith Basil of Alhambra, California, who came with his wife and four children have regularly been following Pastor Apollo in his weekly broadcast over KVMD TV Channel 23.

The Gospel of the Kingdom as viewed on KVMD Channel 23 is a direct feed from the ACQ Kingdom Broadcasting Network, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ’s international TV network located in the “New Jerusalem” which is in Davao City. It is the only Philippine television network broadcasting from the Philippines to the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa on free TV.

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China’s Nanjing Exhibit in Manila

A message of peace and hope – this was the significance behind the China’s Memory of Nanjing Exhibit that recently opened at the Bahay Tsinoy, Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center, located at Anda corner Cabildo Sts. in Intramuros, Manila. For the first time ever in Southeast Asia, Filipinos will have a chance to view a miniature version of the Nanjing Memorial Hall, the most visited museum in China with over five million visitors annually.

Leading the opening rites were Ms. Carmen Padilla, Chair of the UNESCO Culture Committee; Mr. Wang Wei, Vice-President of the Nanjing International Cultural Association; Ms. Tessie Ang See of the Kaisa Heritage Center, Amb. Miguel Perez Rubio of Memorare 1945, and Ricardo Balbido Jr., president and CEO of Philippine Veterans Bank.

The Memory of Nanjing project is part of the Exchange Exhibition arrangement with Philippine Veterans Bank’s traveling WWII Exhibit led by PVB President and CEO Balbido which has been in display at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall since last April 2009.

Since then, over one million visitors have seen the Philippine exhibit entitled “The War of Our Fathers… A Tribute to Filipino Freedom Fighters” which displays the Filipino at his finest defending the motherland from foreign aggression.

Both exhibitions are in partnership with the Veterans Federation of the Philippines, the UNESCO Culture Committee chaired by Ms. Carmen Padilla and Ms. Tessie Ang See of Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran and the Bahay Tsinoy, Museum of Chinese in Philippine Life.

Both the Chinese and Filipinos have a shared history, as both peoples endured the same hardship and suffering in World War II. In the Philippines, over 100,000 civilians were killed in the Battle for Manila by withdrawing Japanese troops during World War II which is also displayed at the Bahay Tsinoy. There are similar stories in Cebu, Davao, Laguna and Batangas.

The Nanjing Memorial Hall was built to remember the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre and is one of the finest and most modern museums in the world today. It is a standing tribute to the men, women, and children – civilians who were killed by Japanese invaders in a period of three weeks from December 1937 to January 1938.

A visitor cannot help but be moved by the dramatic exhibits and the poignant portrayals of the massacre. While the Museum portrays the stark realities of war, at the end of the tour, the visitor is urged to help work for peace.

The organizers hope that through this project, all peoples will be reminded of the atrocities of war and everyone, both Chinese and Filipino, has a responsibility to continuously work for peace.

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings on Dec. 8 go to Mrs. Susana Ople, Andrea Bautista-Ynares, Mrs. Concepcion “Nonie” Basilio, Mrs. Connie Guanzon-Garcia, Beth Bautista, Bremel R. Guiao, Ellen Concepcion Novales, Pura R. Mondejar, Dr. Eddie Santos, Ma. Joyce Tobias, Archie Cayaba, Lina Mabanag, QC Fiscal Ma. Victoria Alba-Estoesta, Barry Marcelo, Jon-Jon Padua, Jinky A. Velasco, Hero Angeles, Grcelyn Ramos, Dr. Ching Ilao-Oreta and Mika dela Cruz. Happy wedding anniversary to Peping and Tingting Cojuangco, Richard and Roni Merk, Danny and Lynda Reyes, and Francis and Cynthia Naidas.