DURING his time away Richard met leprosy sufferers who had been outcast by family and friends, refugees still living in expansive camps thrown together in the wake of the devastating south Asian tsunami and on numerous occasions was reduced to tears by unthinkable levels of abject poverty.

His three-month sabbatical, which is offered to Baptist ministers every seven years, provided many heart-wrenching moments.

In the south Indian city of Chennai Richard, 39, spent two-and-a-half weeks with several projects which work with destitute children.

"Some have no idea where they came from," said Richard lively character who for a minute is forced to withhold his usual warm smile to talk about the extreme deprivation he encountered while away.

"The problem is just unbelievable, regularly young baby girls who are disposed of at birth are being pulled from rivers."

Sam and Beena Gilbert, who run the Agape Life Project, offer food, a place to live but most importantly a family environment to an extremely lucky, yet relatively tiny, group of 14 orphans.

It was with the couple that Richard met baby Carole, whose mother had been raped while staying in a Government-run shelter set up for those made homeless by the crushing tsunami.

Ignorant of her pregnancy, Carole's mother gave birth prematurely at seven months.

Suffering greatly from shock and struggling to find an emotional connection she gave up her baby.

And Richard, who was adopted as a baby himself, also met 12-year-old Danny whose life had turned around in his new home.

"Before he was a deeply disturbed child battling with his sense of identity, the transformation in a little boy's life is just indescribable," said Richard, a former sales and marketing director.

"We were able to share our stories which was an amazing experience."

Once a month the project visits those with leprosy in isolated and run-down Government units exclusively for sufferers of the disease.

Even today, with a total cure available for around £40, contracting the disease commonly comes with an unshakeable and damning stigma.

"I met one man who went there at 15 and is now 72,' said Richard, "he has only left the place once during that time and that was to visit a proper hospital.

"People are so ashamed they can't admit having leprosy so are totally stuck for life, in prison-like conditions."

Richard joined the group in spending time with those plagued by the illness which effectively robs sufferers of their lives and starves them of love and affection.

"We just talked, listened and touched, they can't get their head around why anyone would do that because the culture and society make them feel like outcasts," he said.

Earlier during his period of leave Richard, along with his wife Faith and two of his three children, Hannah, 17, and Georgina, nine, spent a month in Gambia - the world's 13th poorest nation.

For a month he worked with a Baptist mission school which has 2,500 pupils.

With no real state education in Gambia those who are taught in charity-run schools have a very healthy attitude to learning.

"The children see it as a pathway to a better quality of life," said Richard, who found that the trip put many aspects of his life in England into perspective.

Richard saw the way people in the developing world turn to God and keep their belief through adversity.

"In life when people face a crisis they can run away, blame God or run to him and embrace him.

"In the West we have so much and live in a relative time of peace and we can think why do we need God?

"The trip really made me question what my life was all about and question all of my values."

Refreshed and refocused, Richard now has greater sense of urgency in his faith.

"The church in this country is far too complacent, it is slumbering," he said. "There is a fear that church becomes nothing more than a Sunday social club."

He goes further, saying that the term 'religious' is a divisive one.

"Being religious is going through the motions but God calls us to have a vibrant relationship with him," he said, "perhaps the most irreligious person ever was Jesus."

"Being part of God's church is to encourage each other, to practice and develop and grow your faith, at the moment it is weak at this."

Richard believes everyone should be afforded an extended period of time away from what can become the unthinking grind of everyday life.

He said: "I have seen and experienced new things, some of which are very sad, but I would say just being away from your regular daily activity enables you to step back from what you do and think again."