VBS 2010: Someone's Gonna Get Slimed! from Foothills Church on Vimeo.

See some of the fun we've been having at Superheroes VBS this week and listen in at the end when Will Busch gives his summation of a good sliming.

Here are some to get you started...we have a few more on the way. Enjoy!

Papalote 4: Mas agua! from Foothills Church on Vimeo.

Papalote 3: Bible Institute work from Foothills Church on Vimeo.

Papalote 2: Clean up from Foothills Church on Vimeo.

Papalote 1: Nueva Era Building Site from Foothills Church on Vimeo.

We´re busy packing and cleaning today, saying goodbye to new friends and finishing up work at the Nueva Era building site, a church plant in the area.

The team here has seen God do some amazing things and we´ve heard some gripping stories. We have seen overwhelming poverty and heard about lives transformed in miraculous ways.

For me, there is a personal side to what we´ve seen and heard. My family is from Mexico, but I was born in the United States and have lived well. I know that my family in Mexico has struggled with a lot of the pain we´ve seen here, particularly abuse of women and children. This is something I´ll be praying about as I return home. It´s so personal, but I put it here on the Foothills blog so that my church family can know that Mexico´s struggles are my own, our own.

Like on our East Asia trip last year, God has given me encouragement throughout the week. The one that sticks out in my mind is finding a small Bible in a muddy bank, left there by a recent flood. The Bible was open to Psalm 136, which tells us that ¨his love endures forever.¨I love it that God speaks to me from flood debris, and that the word he gives is about enduring, everlasting love because that is what people here need to know about. From what Ilene has shared with me, the culture in Mexico believes in limited love. There´s not enough love for all of your children, for example. I´ve seen that in my own family, too, as my  grandmother was separated from her twin at a young age and one was allowed to thrive and the other forgotten. Such sadness, but such a hope when people hear of God´s unending and unlimited love.

Thanks for letting me share. See you in Oregon.

- Elena Hammond

Melissa Rowlings, Ariel Greaves and I are sitting in what we´ve dubbed Papalote´s Internet house. It´s a room in someone´s house where they´ve put in a six computers. It costs me about $1 for an hour to use. The family opens it up when school gets out, about 2 p.m., the same time we finish lunch and the perfect time to access our Facebook accounts. Not everyone has had an opportunity to come over here, so don´t worry if you haven´t heard from a loved one. Cell phone service is pretty much nonexistent and I have yet to find wi-fi...although I have a few leads.

We have a bunch of photos on our Facebook page you can see over here. What the pictures don´t tell you is the vast information we´ve learned from Don and Ilene Nagle, the missionaries here who oversee the Bible Institute. They have a deep understanding of the culture here and the connections between Papalote and other parts of Mexico and the United States.

Janna Reece is busy teaching haircutting skills to a woman who plans with her husband to return to a remote village it Oaxaca, Mexico, this summer. Many Oaxacans have migrated to Papalote. The Oaxacans are part of Mexico´s indigenous people, so life in Oaxaca is very basic compared to even Baja. Natty and Benny have spent many years in Papalote, but will return to Oaxaca this summer as missionaries to their own people. Ilene said that U.S. missionaries have spent years reaching out to Oaxaca, but the Oaxacans really only trust their own people. So, it is knowing that they return to a different life that Natty and Benny go to Oaxaca. Natty is a quick learner and is following Janna´s instructions on cutting hair so that she´ll have a way to minister to the people in her Oaxacan village.

My hour is about up. God bless and see you soon!

-Elena Hammond

We successfully uploaded some pictures to our Facebook page, check it out here.

We are busy working at the Bible Institute and getting ready at various construction sites to pour concrete. Today the women visited a woman who needed her property cleaned and medical attention for her children. We may return tomorrow.

We also visited the dump site. Seeing the dump and helping clean the woman´s property was eye opening for us. It is hard to see people living in such poverty. What´s special about Mexico is that Jesus represents for some their only and greatest hope out of such extreme situations, whether it´s poverty, abuse or physical pain.

We are learning a lot about Don and Ilene´s mission in Papalote and beyond. Ilene shares her skills as a nurse with many. They are training and sending missionaries to Oaxaca, which is where many people in Papalote originate. The Oaxacans are part of Mexico´s indigenous population and are best reached by their own people.

Lots of fun with the children, including soccer, ice cream, crafts and a homemade swing in the back of Bob Croff´s truck. The kids found his ropes and tied them together to make a big swing. Maybe we´ll get pictures of that, too.

Miss you all. We covet your prayers.