TWO Okehampton church ministers have recently returned from an eye-opening trip to Southern India.

The Rev Mike Davies and the Rev Chris Bourne travelled to the small village of Purushothapuram, flying into Hyderabad, then taking an internal flight to Visakhapatnam before a long car journey to the village.

The pair were invited to India by Moses Anantharapu, a local church pastor. He operates a children's orphanage out of his own home in the village.

Pastor Moses sought to enlighten the two on the extensive need for backing and support in the areas of additional children's homes and the provision of other basic facilities.

The ministers visited local churches and villages in the deprived region of Andhra Pradesh, giving talks. They were both main speakers at a two-day crusade in the village of Rayavaram, and despite the meetings being held late at night in an open field, crowds of around 500 attended.

Both Mr Bourne and Mr Davies have been used to difficult situations before, due to the work they have carried out in Kenya and South Africa.

Yet with soaring Indian temperatures and no running water readily available to drink or wash in, they found operating in the day became difficult.

Both men were also shocked by the level of poverty in the region.

Mr Bourne said: 'I thought it would be basic but I was shocked at just how deprived and full of squalor it was.

'The entire 70 kilometres from the airport through the towns and villages was poverty at a new low level to see, smell and experience. I was grateful that we were kept well and had no upset tummy or sickness, that was a very real blessing for me.'

Mr Davies said: 'I found this one of my most challenging trips.

'Seeing the joy on the faces of the children was tremendous but then looking at the faces of parents who in the past have given their children away just to survive cannot be adequately conveyed in just a few words.'

Within the next few months both men will be holding a presentation evening in Okehampton to explain the plight of some of the world's most disadvantaged people, drawing heavily on their visit to India.