Welcome to the SSTT Guatemala Blog!

Greetings, and welcome to Goshen College’s Study-Service Theology Term (SSTT) blog! We will be posting here regularly once orientation begins this Thursday, June 8, on GC’s campus. On Sunday morning, June 11, we will leave by bus for O’Hare International Airport, and then arrive in Guatemala City Sunday evening. While in Guatemala, we will be staying at the Seminario Anabautista Latinoamericano (Semilla), doing study each morning in that setting and then taking afternoon field trips to add to our experiential learning.

SSTT is modeled after Goshen College’s successful Study-Service Term, which is entering its 49th year this fall. The college’s regular SST program seeks to immerse students in another culture to help them reflect on their place in the world, broaden their worldview, and develop relationships with people in a Two-Thirds World context. With the Study-Service Theology Term — for which high schoolers are eligible to receive college credit — the goal is to help students think theologically, and to further their reflection on their present and future roles in the church. Ideally, some students will more deeply consider the possibility of serving in some sort of pastoral leadership role in the church.

Students in the 2017 SSTT group come from Washington, D.C., Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Georgia, and they represent many Christian faith traditions: non-denominational, Baptist, Pentecostal, Mennonite and Catholic, among others. We look forward to having this diverse group of students together in one place, developing friendships and prompting reflections on vocation and faithful living.

 

In the photos for today’s blog are a number of images from Seminario Anabautista Latinoamericano’s beautiful campus, including the dorms where we will be staying and the grassy areas where we will be able to relax and journal. The lake photo is from Lago Atitlan, which we will visit as part of our exploration of Guatemalan culture, and the street scenes are from historic Antigua, which we also will visit. The photo with people includes Vicky Montenegro, who works with the seminary’s study program and will be our primary Guatemalan contact; Keith Graber Miller, Goshen College’s program director for SSTT; and Semilla Rector Willi Hugo Perez.

We hope you can sign up to receive notifications of regular updates to the SSTT blog. Thanks for joining us on the journey.