“Reading the World: Food Culture ．Future Living.”
— Hong Kong Book Fair 2025
ARPress has been actively participating in some of the world’s most prominent international book fairs, from the Bologna Book Fair and the London Book Fair to events in Miami, Beijing, and Sharjah. We’re excited to share that our journey doesn’t stop there. Our latest step forward: participation in the 35th Hong Kong Book Fair 2025. This expansion brings even more opportunities to connect with readers, authors, and publishers on a truly global scale, and we’re just getting started.
The 2025 Hong Kong Book Fair took place from July 16–22 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This year’s theme, “Food Culture · Future Living,” served up a rich menu of tastily themed programming. Culinary literature from around the world was showcased, offering insights into food’s role in traditions, health habits, and even the future of dining through tech innovations. The World of Art & Culture zone elevated the experience, blending interactive art, dynamic videos, music, and literary commentary. Eight artists and several embassy installations illustrated how a dining table can be a cultural microcosm.
One highlight was the collaboration with Macao’s Cultural Affairs Bureau, which brought a “Macao Craft Market” to the fair. Around 40 creative brands presented handmade crafts, fashion, and lifestyle pieces that reflect Macao’s unique local identity. Mainland China also had a strong showing, with over 40 publishers and nearly 20,000 titles, including a spotlight on Sichuan’s cultural offerings.
Beyond browsing shelves, visitors immersed themselves in interactive experiences: AR photo booths, needlework demonstrations (such as Sichuan embroidery), panda-themed installations, and a civic education exhibition featuring Cantonese opera, ballet, game booths, and photo corners aimed at promoting awareness.
Book signings and author talks drew enthusiastic crowds. Fans queued to meet popular voices such as Ghost Writer (孤泣) and more. Seminars covered a wide range of topics, featuring international voices like Rie Qudan, Lindsay Varty, and Osamu Okamura, alongside local and regional authors. The fair hosted eight themed lecture series, including future living, local history, youth reading, and mindfulness.
To commemorate its 35th edition, the fair introduced several clever ticketing promotions: free admission for visitors born in 1990, special packages allowing five people to enter for the price of three, and limited-edition tote bags and gifts for shoppers who spent over HK$500. The fair didn’t just showcase booksit offered an immersive cultural feast, blending reading, dining, art, craft, tech, and performance. It was a testament to how a book fair can go beyond the printed page, feeding the mind, the heart, and yes, even future appetites.
John Ingalls has been 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 has traveled and spoken extensively, helping to shepherd and perfect the saints. As a co-worker with Witness Lee, he played a key role in the advancement of the 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 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 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.
Speaking the Truth in Love: A True Account of Events and Concerns Related to The Local Churches 1987-1989 by John Ingalls and Stephen Isitt is now available for purchase via ARPress Bookstore:
Ruth Wise
A very important account of truth countering the dishonesty of leaders . Holding down the truth, in the system of error called “the Lord’s Recovery,” has most seriously stumbled many, and continues to do so. The truth, with love, WILL prevail.