Back again with much prayer

I have never had a good experience at the airport in Taipei, Taiwan. My first visit was in 1997 to lead a team to do an International Mission Board Annual Meeting. Our team consisted of 12 people. We were bagged to the limit. Not only were we carrying clothes but also supplies and gifts. Those days things were harder to get in East Asia than today, so we had our bags loaded with all kinds of valuable stuff.

The first sign things would not go well was really before we reached Taiwan. I was the last person getting on an American jet leaving DFW to Los Angeles. Five other team members had boarded with old soccer bags from a coach's locker room destined for the garbage dump. He rescued them and we put more stuff in them and carried them on board.

At least five did! I was stopped and told my bag--my very same sized--my very same colored bag was oversized and would have to be checked with all the other bags destined for LA. At that moment, I faced one of the great moments and measures of a man. I could argue about them letting five other team mates on with exactly the same size and colored bag, or just say nothing and let them rip the bag from my hands. Figuring by the look on the scary flight attendant's face, I opted to let go of the bag. Figuring one lost bag was worth the harmony I would still have on my team because their bags had not been confiscated.

No matter, when we finally arrived in Taiwan, all 25 bags were delayed. (airline speak for "lost") To report the problem we were shown down into the basement of the airport where we beheld hundreds of bags stuffed everywhere there was a place one could stuff a bag. I have never, never seen so much luggage in my life. My heart began to sink. The agent at the window explained to us that Kula Lampur had just opened their new airport and there were some problems with the bags.

Half of our bags arrived four days into our trip, all but one arrived 6 days into our trip and the last bag found its owner two weeks after we returned home. What was in the bag? The music director's clothes. I later found out that as he was praying one night, he asked the Lord, "For whatever reason these bags have gone astray, could you at least send me my music. And one hour before mission meeting started, his music arrived.

My most recent experience at the Taiwan airport was returning from a trip to see my two sons: one was in China and the other was in Thailand. (I have a fatal flaw: I love flying EVA which is hubbed in Taipei. ) Now follow me on this: I had presented my passport in Abilene; DFW; LAX; Taipei; Bangkok; Kunming, China; Lejuine, China; and reverse the order back to Taipei. Now we had a problem. We had stopped off to see some missionary friends, and now we had a problem. It seemed that I was traveling on the last six months of my passport. Therefore, I was denied entry into the country. I could not return to the country from which I had come, nor could I continue on to America. I was stuck in no-person's-land. However, there was a simple solution. When one travels to Taiwan, they are given a free visa on arrival that is good for thirty days. I, on the other hand, with my questionable passport, could purchase this free visa for myself and my wife and the worthlessness of the passport would go away. (does anyone smell a racket here?) So, with no other choice, our passports were confiscated, as well as my bride. I was escorted outside the main terminal of the airport to an ATM machine where I extracted the equivalent of $150 in New Taiwanese dollars, which I immediately turned over to my escort who brought me back to my wife, our visas was granted and off we went.

Now you may ask, why are the ancient tales worth thinking about now? Well, my middle son, who used to be my youngest son, has announced it is time to meet his girl friend's parents, and yes, they live in Taipei, Taiwan. On the phone over the weekend, I mentioned to my future daughter-in-law I was proving my love by going to the one city and the one country in the world I have blacklisted. We go next month.

With American's new rules about luggage and my dramatic weight loss, I figure I can wear four changes of clothes, put two pairs of socks in my pockets, and feel like I did three years ago when I would fly. And I won't have to keep up with the luggage.

Security may be a bit of a problem.