They camped for the duration of their stay, and besides the heat, very basic living conditions, absence of electricity and little more than rice and soup to eat, they had a number of natural predators to contend with - they killed 3 deadly black mambas during their stay. And as if that wasn't enough, had to watch out for crocodiles coming in from the lake in the evenings! "I would definitely like to do something like this again."

Along with 20 people of all ages, Bobby spent 3 weeks in a small village in the mid-south of the country, helping to build a secondary school and getting involved in community work.

The day began with a good walk to the school site, and they worked till lunchtime. The afternoon was given over to activities with the local children: football, games, etc. In the evening, after the meal the cooks would join them for a time of worship and sing beautifully in Swahili.

They completed two classrooms whilst there, and started on a third. But most of all, they made new friends and continued a relationship with the area that has been going on for a number of years. They came back with much more than they took out.

"The job was not only fun but challenging at times. Young people tend to become much more open when they are away from home because they are more relaxed, and relationships tend to form quicker. They ask difficult questions that can't always be asked at home."

"God gives us all a heart for different places at the right time in our lives. My summer in Turkey was a very special one for me personally as well as in the job I was doing."

Louisa is now a volunteer youth worker for a church in Montana in the USA. This involves working in both the church and local schools, and taking part in the volunteer training programme.

Elizabeth had arrived with a group of other keen windsurfers and a small mountain of equipment to help develop a Christian water sports centre on a lake near the Black Sea, about 4 hours drive north of Bucharest. They had raised sponsorship money to buy half a dozen boards and different-sized sails to take with them, and were going over to get things set up and provide some basic training.The centre they were visiting offers the chance for children, often orphans or from very poor backgrounds, to have a week or two's holiday and do something completely different.

Besides the windsurfing, there was plenty of time to spend with local children, and with the World Cup going on at the time, to get involved in a local England v. Romania football match… not a glorious day for England as it turned out!

People were very open and friendly, and willing to sit and talk. Despite all the persecution that had taken place under communism and the tyrannical Ceaucescu regime, their faith had grown stronger as they had really depended on God. Since communism fell, many new churches have been built and it was really encouraging to see the church flourishing again.

"I'd love to return and see how things are going."

"The area we were staying in was very rural; our township was about the same size as Ashtead and served the surrounding area. It was split into 8 'units' and we were in the poorest, sleeping in the church itself. We went there to help out where we could and catch up with old friends."

Word quickly got around about the new arrivals, and before long Peter was involved with a local running club that the church had set up: "the standard was very high, so there not much to teach, but I was able to give plenty of encouragement". John had done a lot of football coaching the year before, and was keen to see how things were going. Besides this, there was lots of practical building work to be done, both roofing and plumbing, led by one of the missionaries there who had previously worked in the construction trade.

There is a lot of unemployment in the township and HIV-AIDS infects approximately 1 in 4 people, bringing life expectancy down to around 40. But despite all this, people were very warm and welcoming, with big smiles on their faces, and they had learned to get on with life and be thankful for what they had. This contentment was one of the most striking lessons to bring home.

Peter would love to do something similar again, and would recommend this kind of trip to others: "it's very mind-expanding to engage with another culture, and very different to tourism where you don't really get involved with the place or people you are visiting."

The Ashtead Youth Team actively encourages young people to match their skills and passions with opportunities to serve abroad, and have seen the difference it makes when they return. Everyone interviewed for this article expressed how valuable and rewarding their trips had been, and a desire to do something similar again.

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