Well…I’m 9 hours from take-off. Today started early and ended late. And it was all good. Really, all of it.

I had a great time this morning sharing Philippians this morning at Alliance International Church. The people were very receptive and encouraging.

As you know from previous posts, my back has been hurting for the entire trip. It’s really been quite a sharp pain. Not more than 15 minutes after the service ended, Pastor Mark and a smiling Chinese woman came up to me and said, “There’s a massage place directly across the street. We just went and checked and they can take you right now!” Of we scurried and the next 90 minutes I had a masseuse’s elbows wonderfully digging into my back and legs. The result was that about 80% of the pain was gone – and has stayed gone. We’ll see how I feel after 17 hours of travel tomorrow, but for now…I’m happy.

Tonight was the A.I.C. Christmas Banquet. The gymnasium where we worshipped this morning was transformed into a beautiful, elegant banquet. White tablecloths, lovely centerpieces, candles, a choir, solos, duets, and five courses of delicious food.

I must say that I was wondering how the three characters from What I Saw (Charles Fussbudget III, Shep, and Bruno Buccelli) would resonate in an Asian culture. I was more than a little nervous since a big part of the success of this show is whether the people get the humor. I am thrilled to say that laughter was abundant and the Gospel was shared.

My mind and body are tired. My heart – on the other hand – is thrilled. What a wonderful trip. Truly and honor to be able to travel around the world helping people fall more and more deeply with the Word and its author.

The people I have met in Hong Kong have been wonderful. I love the diversity. Of course, most of the people are Chinese, but Hong Kong is such an international city that you see – and hear – people from lots of different places.

Today began with a walk and train ride to get to the church. About 35-40 people attended Falling in Love with God’s Word. They were very receptive and actually caught more of the humor than I was expecting.

Afterward, the youth pastor of the church bought me some espresso chocolate chip gelato at the Pacific Coffee Company. Nice…very, very nice.

After that, we met his wife and headed out to a Christmas dinner at a guy’s house who lives outside of the city. About 15 of us enjoyed a wonderful meal in Tom’s absolutely stunning home. Turkey. Thai salad (spicy and delicious). Sushi. A massive assortment of desserts. Espresso.

Tomorrow is my last day in Hong Kong. Preaching in the morning and What I Saw at the Christmas Banquet at night. Guess I better hit the sack.