Embracing the Future.
In 2025, ARPress reached a new milestone by joining the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), one of the Asia-Pacific region’s leading events dedicated to children’s and young adult content. Held from 14 to 16 November at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, the fair reinforced our mission to champion diverse voices and cross-cultural storytelling. With a history of participating in major global book fairs, ARPress welcomed the opportunity to engage with CCBF’s vibrant international community.
Approved by the Shanghai Press & Publication Administration and organized by major Chinese publishing groups, with Ronbo BolognaFiere Shanghai Ltd. as co-organizer, CCBF has been a cornerstone of global children’s publishing since 2013. Its partnership with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair reflects China’s “going global and bringing in” strategy, promoting international exchange and introducing outstanding global titles to Chinese readers. The 2025 edition hosted around 500 exhibitors from more than 35 countries across its 25,000-square-meter venue, drawing tens of thousands of visitors and showcasing thousands of new titles, artworks, and multimedia projects.
The fair featured two main zones: a Copyright Zone focused on rights trading and a Hybrid Zone blending publishing, marketing, and retail. ARPress was honored to exhibit in the Copyright Zone at Booth 2A17, presenting curated fiction, nonfiction, and poetry collections. CCBF’s renowned programming continued in 2025, with the Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition receiving over 15,000 submissions, the Illustrators Survival Corner offering masterclasses and portfolio reviews, the Children Plus – COMICS exhibition highlighting nearly 200 international comic titles, and the expanded Cross-Media Lounge spotlighting innovative global projects.
Across forums and seminars, international experts explored topics such as AI in education, inclusive storytelling, and global reading promotion, further strengthening CCBF’s role as a hub for cultural exchange. For ARPress, participating in this event deepened our connections across the Asia-Pacific region, enabled meaningful engagement with authors and illustrators worldwide, and affirmed our commitment to stories that transcend borders. As we welcomed partners and book lovers to our booth, we left inspired to continue nurturing global collaboration and advancing imaginative, empathetic, and diverse storytelling for young readers.
A few books were only featured in this globally reached book fair. One of the masterpieces featured is Speaking the Truth in Love by John Ingalls and Stephen Isitt. John Ingalls was a serving member of the ministry within the Lord’s recovery for many years. Known for his deep spiritual insight and unwavering commitment to truth, he traveled and spoke extensively, helping to shepherd and perfect the saints. As a co-worker with Witness Lee, he played a key role in the advancement of church life in North America and beyond. His writing and speaking are characterized by a sincere desire to uphold biblical principles, speak the truth in love, and maintain the oneness of the Body of Christ.
In the realm of Christian literature, few works resonate with the clarity and conviction found in Speaking the Truth in Love. Authored by John Ingalls, a seasoned elder and longtime co-worker within the Local Church movement, this book presents a candid, deeply personal account of spiritual turmoil, doctrinal concerns, and an unwavering commitment to integrity within the church community from 1987 to 1989.
John Ingalls was not a man prone to controversy. Known for his humility, gentleness, and dedication to the Word, he spent over two decades serving faithfully alongside Witness Lee, one of the most prominent figures in the Local Church movement. Ingalls was instrumental in the creation of the church hymnal and played a significant role in the early development of the Recovery Version of the New Testament, a major publication of the Living Stream Ministry. Yet, as circumstances within the movement shifted, so did his sense of responsibility to the truth.
Speaking the Truth in Love is not a polemic. It is a heartfelt testimony, written with the sobriety of someone who had “given everything” to the Lord’s recovery and was grieved by its direction. What began as concerns about leadership practices, unhealthy hierarchy, and administrative overreach eventually led to painful confrontations, and ultimately to his resignation from a position he never wished to leave. Ingalls writes not from a place of bitterness, but from a burden for the integrity of the church and the well-being of the saints.
The book unfolds as a sequence of events and reflections during a critical period, marked by growing dissonance between ministry ideals and ministry practice. Through quiet, reasoned prose, Ingalls invites readers into his spiritual wrestlings and the collective efforts of several leaders to address troubling issues. He emphasizes transparency, prayerful fellowship, and a sincere desire to preserve unity, contrary to the charges of rebellion later leveled against him.
What sets Ingalls apart and, by extension, his book, is the absence of vindictiveness. Despite being ostracized, having his name removed from publications he helped shape, and seeing his ministry marginalized, John Ingalls never struck back. Those who knew him, like Albert Zehr, who contributed the book’s foreword, describe him as a man of rare nobility, whose love and conscience could not be silenced.
Though originally published in 1990, Speaking the Truth in Love has found renewed relevance in today’s church climate, where questions of transparency, authority, and spiritual health remain ever pertinent. The book serves not only as a historical account but also as a living example of what it means to speak out in faith, even when the cost is high.
John Ingalls passed away in 2016, but his voice continues to echo. Through this testimony, he reminds readers that love, and truth are not opposites, they are companions. And when paired with humility, they form a foundation strong enough to weather any storm.
For anyone navigating questions of faith, leadership, or personal conscience, this book offers not just a record of past events but the steady hand of a friend who has walked the difficult road and remained faithful. It is the kind of book one doesn’t merely read but receives, like a letter from someone who cares deeply, who doesn’t shout but simply shares, and then gently places the truth in your hands to hold as your own.
And perhaps that’s how John would have wanted it: quietly offering his story in love and trusting the Lord (and the reader) with what comes next.
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