church."⁵²Students also discuss the church's role in colonialism and

oppressing and enslaving indigenous people in some of their host countries,

recognizing the church's participation in the logics of power.

In many Study-Service Term settings, students also are forced to

examine their views of individualism and community. As college students who

have been relatively independent for one to three years before going on SST,

adjustments to living with gracious and protective host families, returning

home at night under culturally-defined curfews, attending worship services

more frequently than is their practice on campus, and abiding by norms

established by external controls, is quite difficult. The move from childhood

dependence to relative independence is made prior to SST, but an appreciation

for interdependence, or a clearer awareness of socially-constructed and

socially connected selves, sometimes emerges as a result of the experience

abroad. "A small, remote community like El Rucio naturally lends itself to a

close-knit community," wrote one student.

Everyone attends the same church and the same school, rides the guaguastogether, buys food at the local colmado, and knows (or is related to) their neighbors. With this forced closeness comes the attitude of helping each other -- watching someone's kids, cutting someone's hair, fixing a neighbor's pair of shoes, sharing food between houses, holding each other responsible, giving someone a ride on a motorcycle, borrowing a tool, lending a hand with a job. Is this type of community spirit possible in larger towns and cities? Certainly it is more difficult, and people tend to lead more independent lives. But it is at least something to strive for, and to take into consideration when designing cities (e.g., how far are the houses from the schools and stores?), choosing where to shop, and when interacting with neighbors.53

52_{"The Study Service Trimester Abroad," 46. Among the stated goals for SST are}
"entering into dialogue with people of other religious traditions and being
able to express one's own beliefs in a culturally sensitive manner" and
"maturation in spiritual faith and personal religious commitment."See "Final
Report, Common Experience Committee," 2.

53_{Amy Thut, SST journal, Spring 1997.}

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