Sunday, June 21 – By Matthew Beresh

Preparing for this trip a lot of questions went through my mind. Two days in and it still swims with optimistic uncertainty. I’ve been blessed with a great opportunity. There is a deep responsibility to the benefactors, the planners, my family back home, and the students in the upcoming school year.  I don’t want any of this to be in vain.  So, I ask myself: Just what are my expectations for this experience? What is going to be my big take away? I’d say I’m going into this opportunity expecting something deep and insightful, something with profound significance, something to impart to my students in the upcoming school year; something to share in a living room moment with friends and family.   Having studied aspects of the Holocaust before, there is no doubt that the overall experience is going to be heavy.  There is a weight I know will be handed to me, I have been anticipating that – – a weight yes, but not a wall. On the same hand, as a Christian and a firm believer in Hope and Truth, I am also trusting in the expectation that I will find a message of redeeming quality, one of reconciliation that emerges from the ashes.  Right now I don’t know what form or shape it will look like.  I trust it is there, and I’m excited to soon discover this gift.