Christian students studying in Dallas, Texas are taking to the troubled areas of Bermuda to fight violence with religion.

All this week, the Christ for the Nations Institute have been holding outreach events with singing, dance and prayer, all aimed for the Island's youth.

Organiser Roxanne Ford said that the programme was intended to bridge the gap between the youth and the church.

But the focus of the trip changed after violence broke out on Bermuda's streets.

Ms Ford said: "We came to Bermuda for the first time last year, and ironically, it was the same week that there was that first drive-by shooting.

"Then, the vision started to change. We knew we had to focus on the community. The community is the best place to make a difference.

"We got together and started to strategically place the events in the trouble areas."

Events have already been held at the St. George's Cricket Club, St. Monica's Road and Victor Scott Primary School, where Kimwandae Walker was fatally shot on Good Friday.

Ms Ford said: "We want to let people know that not all the youth are out there hurting each other, just some of them.

"At St. Monica's, the whole community came out. They were lined up in the streets.

"They were just so glad to see something positive happening in their community."

She said that she felt it was her mission in life to do something for the Island, which she considers her home.

"My mother is Bermudian," she said. "Her whole family is here.

"We plan to come here every year, and every year we expect to see even greater things happening in the community."

Nicolas Debase, one of the 23 young people involved in the trip, said that the reaction from the youth in Bermuda has been incredible.

He said: "At Berkeley we had several hundred people in the hall and we asked them to raise their hands if they wanted to take Christ into their hearts.

"We had one person raise their hands. Then another. Then another. Forty people in the end came forward.

"It wasn't a big pull by us. They came forward because they wanted God in their lives."

The 21-year-old, who graduated this year, said that he wanted to go on this trip because he wanted to make a difference to troubled young people.

"A lot of the trips we have people digging wells or helping people in ways like that, but my heart has always been in helping young people, helping this often fatherless generation."

• Tonight at 7 p.m. the group will visit Southampton Rangers, and on Friday at 7 p.m. the group will perform at the Somerset Cricket Club. The final performance will be at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at the National Sports Centre.