Ten weeks later on August 22, at two in the morning, my family piled into the station wagon. Dad prayed as we always did before starting any journey. As we pulled out of the driveway, I remembered another family tradition.

“I love you, Daddy.”          

“I love you, too, Abigail.”

“I love you, Mama.”

“I love you, too, Abigail.”

“I love you, Sam.”

“I love you, too, Abigail.”

The first time I set foot on a plane was the flight from Greenville to Detroit. My first reaction was relief that all the hustle was over with and now I was finally on my way. But then I realized that I was on my way to Detroit to get on the plane that would take me to China. Communist China. For a year. I began to feel overwhelmed and then I realized what the two men beside me were discussing. Here on a plane were two men discussing the power of prayer in their lives. How comforting that was to me. And how safe I felt knowing that God was watching over me like that.

The hour-long flight seemed to take only a few minutes. Four hours to kill before my flight to China. I’m notorious for getting lost so my parents were sure I’d get lost and miss my flight to Beijing. But I didn’t have a bit of trouble. During the 13½ hour flight to Beijing, though, I began to envy Hudson Taylor who had come by boat. That is, until I remembered that his boat almost sank. I guess a plane is better after all. A little.

God placed a businessman beside me on the flight to Beijing. He must have done a lot of traveling because he helped me with all my forms and told me which ones I would need at which desk.

However, after exiting the plane, the first place I looked for was not the customs desk, but the ladies’ room. It was here that I encountered my first fear---a squatty potty (i.e. a hole in the floor). I was not in Kansas anymore.

I had no problems with customs or border control, but when I stepped outside the airport and faced…oh, about five hundred people, I began to worry. “What if I can’t find Dr. Goforth?” I mean, they say that the Chinese people are short, but at five foot even, I didn’t see many people whose heads I could see over. How was I supposed to find anybody in this crowd?

Then, a camera flashed and I automatically looked over. Relieved, I saw that the picture taker was none other than Dr. Goforth himself. Thank you, Lord.

I was introduced to the smiling lady that was to be my headmaster—Sarah. I tried out the Chinese greeting that I had been practicing and got it all mixed up.  Sarah didn’t mind. We hugged each other. I was so happy. I knew we would be “kindred spirits”.