Life and Calling

Life & Calling

The Life and Calling of the Appointed Son of God

Learn about Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy’s life and calling, his spiritual journey, and how he came to be the Appointed and Anointed Son of God.

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Birth and Early Life

Born on April 25, 1950…

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy was named after the great mountain, Mt. Apo — the Philippines’ highest point.

During his birth, his mother — Maria Carreon — saw God sitting upon a cloud. He told her, “That is my son.”

He heard this story told many times while growing up. Like his mother’s vision, it was also often told in their home how the night suddenly turned to day moments after his birth. And how on that day, a huge eagle had perched on the trees outside their home and had stayed there until he was born.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy Early Years

He did not know what all these stories meant. It was only when all the events of his life played out and he saw the path where the Almighty Father was leading him did he understand that he was chosen for a purpose — meant to fulfill a calling that would become the point of salvation.

The Youngest of Nine (9) Children…

Apollo grew up a normal and healthy boy. Though the family was poor, they were happy, held together by the principles of their father, whom they called Tata, and the values of their mother, whom they called Sica.

His parents, Jose Quiboloy and Maria Carreon, both from Lubao, Pampanga, migrated to Mindanao and settled in a small sitio in the foothills of Mt. Apo, called Tamayong.

Little did they know that one day, the place would have a great significance in spiritual history.

Molded in the Principles of Discipline and Responsibility

But hardship in their mountain home brought Apollo to live in the home of his eldest sister, Helen, in Parang, South Cotabato, during his school years. It was there that he learned the hard lessons of responsibility through the rule of the stick.

He spent eight years in his sister’s house and those eight years were tough for the young Apollo. He learned to juggle his time between school and work. He learned to work in his sister’s bakery, baking bread before daybreak, tending the store before he went to school.

At home, there was housework to be done, which he learned to do meticulously and faultlessly so that he would not be hit on the head or have to do things all over again. And when he became a teenager, he forgot all about having friends or having fun because there just wasn’t time for that in his life.

It would have been easy for the young Apollo to resent all this, but when the Almighty Father’s calling was triggered in his life, he realized that his childhood was all part of the Father’s orchestration. His sister was only an instrument, a tool that the Father had used to mold him in the principles of discipline and responsibility that made him into a vessel ready for the Father’s incredible calling in his life.

The First Vision

Though he was not a particularly religiously-inclined child… Apollo was 14 years old when he experienced his first vision.

One night in his bed, he had a dream about the end of the world. He saw a bright star descending from heaven, growing larger and brighter as it got closer to the earth. And as it did, it resolved into the image of the Lord suspended high up in the air, shining bright, blinding as the sun.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy First Vision

Down below, on earth, the world was in great pandemonium. People were running in all directions, trying to escape from the fire that was rapidly spreading across the land. In his dream, the gasoline depots near his sister’s house were exploding one by one, spreading fire everywhere. People tried to escape into the sea, but even the water was aflame. There was nowhere to go.

The next night, he had the same dream, only worse because it was now the whole world in chaos. And there was a caption that said, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come.”

The young Apollo did not know what these dreams meant until he encountered Acts 2:20 in Bible College. Then he understood that what he had seen was a vision of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Sometime later, he had another dream. In this dream, he heard the voice of the Father say, “If ye shall seek me ye shall find me in my way.”

God’s Plan Began to Take Shape

It was never part of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s plans to go to Bible College. It was never a career path that he considered as a young man, but when the opportunity arose along with the free boat trip to Manila, free tuition, free board and lodging, he decided to go.

He reasoned to himself that he could always pursue one of his many dreams later after Bible school. It would, after all, be only three years. He wanted to become a nautical engineer and then a pilot one day.

But it was while in Bible College that he was given the unusual and remarkable gift of preaching.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Bible College

Pastor Apollo describes this gift as a wellspring inside his body, the words of preaching flowing inside him, pouring out of him, forcing itself out of his mouth even when he stopped speaking; because even when he closed his mouth, the words were still there rushing and flowing inside his heart, an unstoppable force wanting to get out. He was so full of words that he did not have to think about what to say when he preached because the words were already there.

It was such an extraordinary gift that he became known as the “Preaching Machine”.

The Preaching Machine

In 1972, he graduated from Bible College and Apollo began to preach in earnest. He could preach as much as seven times a day because he had to get all those words out of him. He had a full schedule all year round. And such was his passion and zeal that even if woken in the middle of the night to preach, he would get up and go.

He became a famous evangelist because of this. He earned the nickname “preaching machine”.

Of course, the denomination took notice.

In 1973, they sent him to join the International Youth Corps World Conference held in Seoul, South Korea. He was the only Filipino, the only Asian among all the American and Canadian youth delegates.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Korea

It was on the last day of that conference, during an altar call inside the hotel ballroom, when the presence of God was greatly felt that Pastor Apollo first heard the audible voice of the Father Almighty speaking to him.

The Activation of the Almighty Father’s Calling

Hearing God’s Voice

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy recalls how the presence of God during that altar call was so strong that everyone in the ballroom was on their hands and knees, weeping and praying.

But amid all the weeping and praising, he heard a voice, clear as day. And when he heard it, his heart squeezed as though in a vice. “Gamiton ta ka” it said in the Visayan vernacular. This meant “I will use you.”

Pastor Apollo remembers turning and looking around to see if someone was speaking to him. But as he was the only Filipino among 185 Caucasian youth, who could be talking to him in the vernacular? And so he asked the Father, “How do you mean You will use me? Are you not using me already?”

The experience so excited him that he told his contemporaries and superiors immediately about it. But after listening to him, the American missionaries gently but firmly told him, “You know, when you pray, that is you talking to God, but when you hear God talking to you, there is something wrong. You need to see a doctor.”

But a week after, back in the Philippines, while waiting for an early morning flight to Palawan, he heard the Almighty Father clearly again, and He said the same words three times. “Gamiton ta ka. Gamiton ta ka. Gamiton ta ka.”

Although the voice brought unstoppable tears to his eyes, Pastor Apollo was still unsure if it was a genuine spiritual experience, and so he continued as he was, a remarkable preacher for his denomination.

Disappointment in his old denomination

From anyone’s vantage point, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, a promising young man, had his life set.

He was the apple of the eye of his denomination. He had a beautiful American girlfriend that they wanted him to marry. His career path to the top was clear. People loved him wherever he went. He was treated like a prince.

But it was for these very same reasons that the denomination’s missionary in the Philippines came to be jealous of him and tried to sabotage his reputation.

And although Pastor Apollo loved his old denomination deeply, cracks began to form in his devotion. His heart was so sincere, passionate and hungry for the Lord and to follow what was written in His Word, but he could not see the same thing in his denomination. He felt heart-sore and disappointed.

All he knew was his deep bone desire and hunger for God. His heart was calling out, “I want to follow You. I am desperate, Father. I want to follow You.”

But what he saw in his denomination was politics and a failure to follow what the Father wanted. The cry in his heart was, “Is this all? I want something more.”

The First Steps towards his Spiritual Journey

Pastor Apollo was greatly confused about what to do but the decision was taken out of his hands.

A man came to him — a stranger — who told him that God had a message for him. The man told him to go to his hotel that night and meet him there.

Curiosity more than anything else prompted him to do as he was asked. But when he got there, the man surprisingly told him nothing, except to sleep there in the room since the hour was late. It was 12:01 AM.

But as he lay down, he was catapulted suddenly into a vision. He saw the ceiling open up to the night sky showing the stars twinkling clear and bright. He did not know if he was asleep or awake, but he knew it was the open heaven.

One bright star was growing bigger and bigger, drawing down slowly closer, until a hand with a white sleeve was revealed to be holding a heavy shiny bronze cauldron. The hand held the cauldron before him, as though just a few feet away and turned it, and Pastor Apollo immediately read the words written on one side: “Strive to rhyme for unity.”

When the hand turned the cauldron the other way, he saw words written there, not in any language that he knew, and as he read it, a voice said, “These words are for you only, tell no one.”

And Pastor Apollo has kept those words secret to this day. Though he knew not what those words meant, he felt in his heart that it was a test of trust and obedience, just as the Father had commanded Adam and Eve, “Eat not of the tree of knowledge of good and evil found in the midst of the garden.”

And then the voice said, “This is bronze, take it.” In God’s language, bronze means judgment.

When his eyes cleared, he saw it was 12:03 AM. Barely two minutes had passed.

Kitbog — The Mountain of Decision

The stranger brought Pastor Apollo to Kitbog, a settlement of B’laan natives in the mountains of Malalag, Cogon, South Cotabato.

What he left behind in Davao was in an uproar. His brothers who were officials in the denomination were very angry with him for turning away all that the denomination was offering. They could not understand why he would do that. They thought him mad.

But everything that had happened to him, the visions and dreams, the miracles he experienced, they were too real. He could not deny them. He had to see where it all led — to see if they were true spiritual experiences and not a deception of the devil.

So for a year, the Almighty Father dealt with him in Kitbog. Hearing His audible voice became an ordinary experience, as though the Father was convincing him, and telling him, “Do not fear. Yes, it is I. You were seeking Me. Here I am. I am calling you.”

The visions and dreams that he received every night sustained him through the hardship he experienced among the B’laan people. It slowly bled the denomination out of him, though the process was long and arduous. Time and again, his heart would slip back and he would think about returning home and marrying his American girlfriend.

Until finally, at the end of a year, all his questions and doubts were answered. He had proven that it was truly the Almighty Father who was calling him and that he was not merely deceived.

Immediately all visions, dreams, and revelations stopped. The Almighty Father told him, “Now it is in your hands. Make a decision to follow Me, or go back to your denomination. Use your freedom of choice.”

And so Pastor Apollo carefully weighed everything in the balance of eternity. And on that mountain, he made a decision, “Father, I will follow you. My heart is fixed, my mind is made up no matter what.”

Thus, Kitbog is now called the Mountain of Decision.

The Anointing

One day, Pastor Apollo came down from Kitbog to get supplies and preach at the small UPC chapel in Tamayong for the mid-week service. It was Wednesday night, March 20, 1974.

The presence of God was very, very strong that evening and everyone worshipped the Father with loud voices, with tears streaming down their faces.

Pastor Apollo was preaching about the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:19-23 when suddenly he stopped speaking. Unbeknownst to all, he saw heavenly visitors enter the chapel. Angels came up to the altar and poured anointing oil over his head, wetting his clothes from head to foot.

The small chapel was suddenly filled with the heavenly scent of what Pastor later said was spikenard. The smell was fresh and pure, unlike any scent, not even the most expensive perfume.

Two pillars of white cloud appeared on the altar, dense and exuding cold. And those who believed felt the presence of angels though they could not see.

The worship inside the tiny chapel rose to a crescendo. There were rejoicing and tears of celebration.

Pastor Apollo said, “Today, believe it or not, God has anointed me.”

But there were those who experienced none of this. They had doubts in their heart. Their eyes remained closed to the spiritual things of God. The anointing of he who would become the Son of God in these last days passed them and they did not know it.

The members followed Pastor Apollo to his home that night. Nobody wanted to sleep, so exulted did they feel. And Pastor Apollo fellowshipped with them until daybreak.

Pastor Apollo also discovered that all of his things at home were anointed with spikenard, including his clothes and his Bible. And the fragrance stayed with him for many months, wherever he went, a testament to the power of God and the truth that is in him.

Not long after that, Pastor Apollo left Kitbog and went back to Tamayong.

He did not know what awaited him there. The future was so uncertain, but he went back because the Almighty Father commanded him to do so.

Tamayong — The Mountain of Affliction

For after Pastor Apollo decided to follow and obey the will of the Almighty Father, he has yet to prove his genuine commitment.

As soon as Pastor Apollo Quiboloy came down from Kitbog, the intense fire of persecution, trial and affliction started immediately, as though all the fires of hell were unleashed upon him.

His brothers became his most forceful persecutors. They would go to Pastor Apollo’s home just to malign him and abuse him, sometimes physically. Once even trying to burn down his house.

Everyone in the denomination believed that Pastor Apollo was under a great deception, because how could he be so foolish as to turn his back on all of the opportunities the denomination had offered him? But he hungered for God more than anything else in the world.

In Tamayong, Pastor Apollo lived inside a one-hectare lot, where the Father had isolated him from the world. He was not allowed to watch TV, read any newspaper, or listen to the radio so that the messages coming from the Almighty Father would reach him clear of the clutter of this world.

Some of the faithful members and workers had also gone to live with him there. They were all witnesses to the fire that the Son experienced in those days.

Picking their cue from his brothers, the people in the community also began to call Pastor Apollo all manner of names, going so far as to throw stones at him and spit at him.

But Pastor Apollo remained calm and unmoved through it all. He understood that the fire was necessary to try his commitment and to test his promise to the Almighty Father if it was genuine. He understood that the choice to endure to the end was his.

Like the devil had tempted Jesus Christ in the desert, so did he tempt Pastor Apollo with the same words: “If you are really the Son of God, turn these stones into bread,” his brother had challenged, pointing to the stones in front of Pastor Apollo’s house.

The devil also tempted him bodily, telling him, “I’ll make you famous. I’ll give you a healing ministry. You will cast out demons. They are all my children and when you cast them out they will go. You’ll become a great evangelist. You will become wealthy.”

But Pastor Apollo only rebuked the devil and said, “Satan, take your offer back to hell with you. If I die here, I die now because I will follow the Will of the Father no matter what.”

A Time of Miracles

But as fierce were the persecutions and afflictions — the miracles, the visions, and the dreams were equally powerful.

Stars would come inside the Sanctuary that Pastor Apollo built in the one-hectare lot. Stars that Pastor Apollo said were angels. Rain would pour inside the room but no one would get wet. Their hands would drip with Miracle oil, which Pastor Apollo said, brought healing and answered prayers for those who believed. Spikenard wafted in and out of that hallowed place.

There were revelations from the Almighty Father every night when Pastor Apollo would fellowship with them until dawn.

Many experienced the touch, the presence, and the sight of angels. Tata himself, Pastor Apollo’s father, had seen two angels watching over Pastor Apollo as he slept. Some had seen them patrolling the sanctuary, like sentinels.

And in an amazing account, witnessed by one of the workers, the Apostle Paul himself had come to visit the Appointed Son and congratulated him for the dispensation of time that he had come to. This was, the Apostle had said, what he had been longing for in his time.

Vision and dreams were common everyday occurrences, to reveal and to testify of Pastor Apollo. Dreams also heralded the days of blessing and prosperity, of honor and prestige to come, when multitudes of people, from all nations and races, would come to hear the voice of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

Pastor Apollo was brought up to the heavens many times, in the body or in the spirit he did not know, as like Paul. But each time he came back down, he brought with him the Manna of Revelations that he would preach to the whole world: Repentance, the Seed Faith, the serpent seed message, all came to him directly from the Almighty Father during those trips above.

It was how the Father comforted them and gave them strength during those days. Fire and persecution would come by day, but miracles and visions came by night.

The University of the Spirit

Those five years of spiritual training, six including the year spent in Kitbog, were Pastor Apollo’s training ground, the University of the Spirit — where there is always only one student and one teacher.

Twice only in the past had this spiritual university been opened. Once for 40 years when Moses trained in the wilderness. And again for 17 ½ years when the Apostle Paul was trained in the deserts of Arabia, where he wrote the Pauline epistles.

And in this time in history, it was opened for him who would carry the message of salvation to the world, who would be appointed for the greatest ministry on earth, to be the firstborn of the Almighty Father’s sons and daughters, the Appointed Son of God, Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy.

And through it all, Pastor Apollo asked nothing from the Father except that burning desire in his heart to be close to God. He said, “Father, I want to be closer to you than John the Beloved.”

The answer did not come quickly or directly from God. It was Tata who told him, “There is nothing closer than the relationship of a father to a son.”

Finally, at the end of those bittersweet years of trial by day but open heaven each night, Pastor Apollo graduated from the University of the Spirit with honors.

He saw this in a prophetic vision. He saw himself at a graduation ceremony, such as in a university. Demons of all kinds, including those who had tried him for five years, were all lined up on a staircase leading up to a platform. They looked defeated but they were all saluting him.

When he got to the top, he received his diploma, which seemed to say, “You have graduated with flying colors.”

And indeed, Pastor Apollo heard the Almighty Father say to him, “Now, you are my Son.”

Just like in Kitbog, all revelations, all visions, all dreams, the Father’s audible voice — everything stopped. Like a man set adrift at sea, Pastor Apollo looked for them, and he cried out, “Father, where are You? You seem so far away. I want to hear Your voice.”

But the Father told him in a revelation, “When you were in the classroom you heard Me because I was outside of you. But now, I am inside of you. You are My body. You are My residence. You are now My audible voice to My people. You will speak to them as though I am speaking to them.”

“The standard I used in this mountain for salvation is the standard I will use all over the world,” the Almgihty Father had said. “I will send you to them. I have many children in the cities of the world. They don’t know you and you don’t them, but when they hear your voice, they will follow you because My sheep know My voice.”

Exodus from Religious Bondage

And this was the start of Pastor Apollo’s ministry. He had nothing to hold on to but the promises of the Almighty Father.

In the year 1980, he was momentarily sent back to his old denomination. He did not understand the purpose of the Father, but he obeyed.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Tamayong

They welcomed him with open arms. But he was no longer the same man. The message he preached was not the doctrine or teaching of the denomination anymore. He had begun to preach about holiness and obedience to the Almighty Father’s Will.

His message was so radical that the denomination took notice and they talked among themselves. “What happened to Apollo? This is not the Apollo we know. This is a different Apollo.”

That is when he understood that as Moses had returned to Egypt to take God’s children out of slavery, he too was sent by the Father to take His people out of the bondage of religion and denomination.

And on September 1, 1985, the exodus finally happened. Upon the command of the Almighty Father, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy exited the denomination, taking with him all those who had accepted his message. He lifted up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Name above every name.

And now, little more than three decades after, the Almighty Father has revealed His Son to the world. The world may not accept it, but the truth cannot be diverted, covered, or held back.

Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy is not leading just any church organization, he is the residence of the Father Almighty, the bodily manifestation of the unseen God, as Adam should have been. The Father has come to rule His Kingdom here on Earth as promised for one thousand years through His Appointed Son.

The Church Age of religion and denomination has ended. The heavens of their beliefs have been overturned even as Pastor Apollo Quiboloy continues to topple down all the deceptions that Satan, Lucifer the devil had created, and proliferated through the centuries.

And because the Almighty Father is now ruling His Kingdom through His Son, unrighteousness has no more place. The days of man in doing His own will is no longer tolerated and man will be judged. The Day of the Lord is already here since the Father declared it on April 13, 2005. And pockets of judgment are already happening all over the world. These are the days of the tribulation.

He who has ears, let him hear; he who has eyes, let him see; he who has a heart, let him understand (Matthew 13:9-16) for the Father Almighty, our Lord Jesus Christ is already here and He is gathering all of His children, sons and daughters, to Him, to His Kingdom through His Appointed Son.

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