I will never forget the 2009 CYMA trip. Few historians ever get the opportunity to see, firsthand, the oldest Christian country in the world. I had so many rare learning experiences that I will be able to share with students in my church history courses for years to come:

· Worshipping God in a church built in the year 430;

· Hearing angelic, glorious acapella liturgies which hearken back to the first centuries of the Christian faith;

· Crawling down into the dungeon at Khor Virap where St. Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned for over a decade and emerged to become the founder of Christianity in Armenia;

· Drinking from a spring inside the sanctuary of Geghard—a spectacular church and labyrinthine monastic compound built into cliff walls in the 12th and 13th centuries;

· Eating lavash (Armenian flatbread) fresh out of the tandoor oven, wrapped around juicy meat and fragrant herbs, along with the Armenian national fruit—apricots—known affectionately in Armenia as tsiran. (Interestingly, the scientific name for the apricot is “prunus armeniaca”—as they grow ubiquitously in Armenia.)

Most importantly, there are few honors as high as being welcomed by another group of people, into their lives, for a pilgrimage designed to bring us closer to Christ. Rarer still is when a group of Christians from a very different milieu welcome another to pray with them, around the dinner table, in thanks to God for our food. On the night before I departed Armenia, I was asked to give a toast since it was my last night to be with the group. I offered two words: “To gratefulness.” Indeed, I am very grateful for being welcomed by the Armenian community for the CYMA trip. I will never forget it. I want to give a special thank you to Father Avedis for his wonderful leadership and, especially, for his welcoming me into his beloved homeland.

With many, many thanks, and much Christian love,

Dyron Daughrity

CYMA 2009