Situated one mile above sea level in the Cordillera mountain rangeon the island of Luzon in northern Philippines, 150 miles (250 km)north of Manila, and commanding a spectacular view of mountains andravines lies the beautiful campus of Asia Pacific Theological Seminary(APTS). As the flagship graduate theological school for the Assembliesof God of Asia and the vast Pacific Rim, APTS is a dynamic center ofspiritual and academic development, serving students from more thantwenty nations each year. A highly qualified multi-national missionaryfaculty, themselves representing a half-dozen or more nationalities,provides a comprehensive and demanding academic program.Over the forty years of the school's existence, the alumni havegone out to serve in significant roles of leadership in the churches ofthe Assemblies of God and many other denominations throughoutthe region. A significant proportion of the administrators and facultymembers of the approximately seventy-five Assemblies of God BibleSchools and extension centers in Asia Pacific are alumni of APTS.Pastors of great urban churches and pioneers in remote and difficultplaces have been trained at APTS. Many national church leaders intheir respective Assemblies of God fellowships have received theirministry training at APTS. Increasingly, graduates are moving intoforeign missions service, representing Asian national churches that arecatching the vision of taking the gospel to the unreached peoples ofAsia and the world. It would seem that the Lord of the Harvest hasbeen pleased to use APTS as a major factor in sustaining continuity and stability within the Assemblies of God throughout the AsiaPacific region over these past forty years. While there have been manycontributing factors to the dynamic growth, influence and strengthof the various national Assemblies of God fellowships in the region,APTS surely has had a significant place. Governed by a dozen nationalAssemblies of God general councils that border the Pacific Rim inpartnership with the American Assemblies of God World Missions(AGWM), APTS is truly a shared vision and ministry.In the pages that follow, we will take a journey through the story ofthis remarkable school during the first forty years of its existence. Wewill review its origins and trace its process through both humble yearsand those with more dramatic developments, to the present. With thecompletion in 2001 of a major new facility, the Asia Pacific Center forthe Advancement of Leadership and Missions (APCALM), an edificethat is primarily intended to facilitate the equipping of Spirit-filledAsians and Pacific Islanders for missionary ministry, APTS is poisedto provide even greater service in the 21st Century.
