Working with the local Adventist church school there, the idea was to show God's love in practical ways by making contacts and friendships with people from the community and offering classes in conversational English.  Classes were taught throughout the day and in the evenings we spent time developing friendships further as we explored the city together, walking by the River Danube, looking over the city from the fortress, and enjoying ice cream!  One of our volunteers, Linroy, summed up his experience: "For my first mission trip it just blew my mind away seeing the enjoyment on the student faces during the lessons and the connections shared with everyone we met."

On our final evening we had a presentation about British life, with a special emphasis on Wales, and also the British Virgin Islands!  (One of our youth is from there, and currently studying in Swansea).  The presentation ended with refreshments including Welsh cakes and slices of bread with marmite!

Over the ten days we spent in Novi Sad, we had over sixty students, most of whom had no connection with the church.  It was such a success - we are already thinking of repeating the trip next summer!  Alysha said, "I've made lifelong friends both Welsh and Serbian and have truly found myself changing day by day."

After all our hard work in Novi Sad we explored a bit of the country, first visiting the mountain resort of Zlatibor, and then finally the capital city Belgrade.  Linroy extolled that "The weather was great, the food was outstanding and thanks to all those who loved my hair."  Anna added, "An incredible experience; really and truly a once in a lifetime change and I loved every single minute of it."  Eifion agreed.  "The Serbian hosts were real stars and the hard work was so much fun thanks to working and growing as a team."

[Jeremy Tremeer]