Some things about the mission trip.

This time round, I found being team leader a lot more like what I hoped it would be when I first had to step into this role. You see, I'm more of a manager than a natural leader. When things are being managed well I am able to lead more effectively. It's a kind of paradox but that's probably reflective of my personality. Oh well. Anyway, this time all the appointment holders were better able to carry out their roles which meant I didn't have much to do admin-wise once the trip began. Instead, I had more time to myself, more time to converse with others, and more time and energy to... wash plates!

It's kind of hard not to wash plates many times when the team isn't that big. Still, I'm surprised I ended up washing plates on 5 occasions. Maybe I like washing plates when I'm in the Northeast. This time round, I got Doreen to appoint dish washing crews after every meal. In an ideal situation, people would volunteer without being asked. Perhaps I was being a little pessimistic but I had another purpose for having Doreen appoint dishwashers. When I appointed her as the assistant team leader, her duties involved helping maintain order in the team and learning whatever she could from what I did. There wasn't any need to restore order so Doreen didn't really have any opportunity to exercise leadership. Thus I asked her to arrange the dish washing as a test for her to see how she got people to work. That's a basic part of leading that I hoped she would be able to get accustomed to.

This time was my 13th consecutive mission trip to Thailand.

Thanks to my skiful reduction of admin work for myself, I found more time to apply myself to translation. I usually don't like translating during gatherings. I find it insanely difficult to concentrate on what the speaker is saying. But this time, I decided to pull my socks up and give it a shot. I guess I did alright in the end. At least I feel more confident about translation now.

Talking with Rose on the last night in Buriram, I thanked her for her good work with the money and told her how I was glad that we have a new set of leaders in the making. The last time Rose went on a trip and was in my team was December 2002. Back then she was fresh out of JC. Now she's about to graduate from NTU. Anyway back then she was just another young person in the team. Now she's fulfilled an important role and it looks as if she can assume this role again in the future.

I like leadership renewal. That's something I didn't always have the hang of. It is to my eternal regret that there were times when I didn't give enough attention to building for the future. I hope those times are gone for good now.