Part of a special issue on understanding situated contexts in learning to teach. L.I.N.C.S.—Learning lntegrated with Needed Construction and Service—is an international service-learning program that brings together staff, undergraduate students, and graduate students to participate in a meaningful, culturally sensitive service-learning project in education and international development. In order to create lasting relationships among individuals and provide the basis for individuals' sense of belonging to something greater than themselves, participants must be fully engaged in a catalytic project, imagine new futures because of it, and align their energies and priorities to sustain the newly-founded community.