Standing at the airport this week, Year 13 student Daniel Allen was convinced that he was about to embark on a trip that would change his life forever.

"I'm hoping I'll learn heaps, and come back a better, more mature Christian," he says, grinning with all the exuberance of youth.

This week sixteen Youthworks College Year 13 students set off for Campus Kampala for their one-month mission tour to Uganda, in Africa.

The short-term mission, in association with African Enterprise, offers students an opportunity to serve God in an environment outside their country, and well outside their comfort zone.

Pete Gunning, the team leader and Director of Mission Development with African Enterprise, knows what a difference these mission trips make to young people.

As a veteran of several similar trips to Africa, he is confident this mission experience will change the lives of the Year 13 students forever.

"I'm looking forward to their eyes being opened as they see things in a whole different light, seeing how other people live and putting that into their own life's contexts as they think it through for the rest of their lives," Mr Gunning says.

Students will be based in Kampala, capital city of Uganda, from where they will then travel throughout the country visiting Fort Portal, Kabale, Kasese and Rukungiri.

The program includes visits to schools, youth groups and churches, as well as orphanages, blind homes and AIDS clinics.

The mission trip forms part of the nine-month "gap year' program with Youthworks College, which has helped equip the team members with many means of gospel preaching in Africa, ranging from short talks right through to drama and music.

Daniel Allen says the Year 13 program has made it possible for him to contemplate crossing continents for Christ.

"The stuff I've learnt this year has prepared me mentally and spiritually for what's ahead in Africa" what I should talk about and how I should conduct myself around others."

Jodie McNeill, Director of Year 13, is excited about the trip's potential.

"I can't wait to see how the team members grow as they face this awesome experience together, and as they preach Christ in a far-away land," he says.

For information about the Year 13 "gap year' program with Youthworks College, visit the Year 13 web site or phone (02) 8268 3367.