Moving from Lahore, a city in Pakistan with a population of more than eight million, to the village of Long Hanborough population 2,500 is a challenge the Rev Asif Karam has risen to over the past six months.

His family have had to adapt to a different culture since arriving in September and, coming from a city where summer temperatures top 40C, a very different climate.

But not everything has proved alien to the Methodist minister, who is working in Britain for five years as part of a church exchange programme.

He said: "We have a lot more in common than you'd think.

"As soon as I saw a cricket pitch and some kids playing football, then I knew I'd feel at home.

"I hardly had time to draw breath until now, we have been so busy with adjusting to life here, learning about the town and, most of all, in meeting people and making friends."

Joined by his wife Rohama and their daughters Zarah Edwin, 12, Zoya Edwin, six, and Zeenia Edwin, four, Mr Karam belongs to the Church of Pakistan, where he is youth co-ordinator to a lively congregation of more than 200.

Through the World Church Partners in Britain programme he has joined the Witney and Faringdon Methodist circuit, working in churches from Burford to North Leigh.

He said: "It has been such a big adjustment for our family to make but we're so pleased to have the opportunity to be here.

"At first we found the language a little difficult but we have been overwhelmed by how loving and caring people are. It's wonderful to see that Christians have such freedom to worship here. At home, churches have a very tense time and even have to worship under police custody for their own safety.

"Although I'm only here for a short period of time, I want to make the most of this opportunity to both learn and contribute to the church and community. I offer myself, saying Lord, use me as you can'. It is better to burn out than rust.

"When I return, I hope to use all that I have learned to set up an English-speaking Christian community in Lahore."

The family live in Hurdeswell and Rohama, an ordained minister who worked alongside her husband in Pakistan, has also become very involved in the work of the church in Oxfordshire.

The Church of Pakistan is a united church, meaning Mr Karam has been ordained in both the Methodist and Anglican churches.

That tradition of cooperation between the churches is reflected in west Oxfordshire, where they have a history of working together.

The Rev Dr Tim Naish, who has been working with Mr Karam, said the family had been welcomed by parishioners. He said: "Working in a second or third language is taxing, and I admire Asif for the way he's got stuck into that.

"I've sensed in him quite often a sense of frustration that in his context, which is a mainly Muslim context, those who label themselves Christians are pretty serious about it, while here there are many people who call themselves Christian, but take it far less seriously.

"Speaking for Anglicans I think they've all taken to him and his family. The girls have been very good at making friends and getting stuck in.

"I think there's sometimes a sense of puzzlement when someone comes from a different culture, but it can also be very enriching and I think people have come to realise that."