"Will Baba Nemo find Nemo, Adele?"

Hillary's question made me smile. "You'll just have to wait and see," I told him as we walked to the training center.

If you had read my previous blog entry, you'll remember that a parent essentially loses their name and becomes dad/mom-of-(first born's name here). And so it was that Marlin, too, lost his name. He's now just Baba Nemo.

The kids had started watching Finding Nemo last Saturday, but after just 10 minutes of the movie, we had a 3-day power outage. The last thing they saw was Nemo being captured by a scuba diver and his dad starting the quest to find his son. So for a week, the kids have been wondering, "Will Nemo and his dad be reunited?"

If you've seen the movie, you'll remember that Mama Nemo (or Coral) gets killed at the start, and that Nemo is all that's left of their entire batch of eggs. Losing his only son was devastating to the clownfish.

Now, keep in mind that all our kids are orphans. For some, they had never known their father. And every single one of them had seen their mother (and in many cases, their father) die. To them, it was really important to see Nemo and his dad be reunited.

In fact, when father and son were finally reunited, the kids literally cheered. BIG time! Deafening cheers! But when it seemed for a moment that Nemo may have died, you should've seen the kids' faces...

Who would have thought that a simple movie like Finding Nemo would be so exhilirating to the children. The kids were even praying, asking God to bless the people who have donated the projector and the movies they are watching.

House Update
Many of the kids stopped by my house before heading to see the movie. I told them that as soon as I've moved in, I'll invite the families for chai at my house. One of the moms also stopped by and as she left, she said, "This will be a great place for prayer and Bible study." That is, indeed, my prayer. I want one and all to feel welcome there, and loved.

So, I've still not moved in. Today, the curtain rods were mounted. My desk was made. The wood for my bed arrived. The bathroom was finished up. And half of the floor was painted. I had originally not wanted to paint the floor, just stain it with oxide. But the staining didn't work that well, and the floor had several paint stains. So the bedroom side now has a very red floor. Next, the kitchen furniture, my desk and my bookshelf will be varnished and moved to the bedroom, and finally, the floor on the living room side will be painted brown.

I can't imagine that I'd be moved in before next weekend, or the end of the month, for that matter.

There's no hurry in Africa, right?

I'm just anxious to be in ONE place. At this stage, I cook at Brian and Kristin's kitchen. I sleep in Hut 3. I make phone calls from my house. I've set up office in Brian and Kristin's living room. And I still brush my teeth outside.

Perhaps I'll miss brushing my teeth under the African sky... But then again, I need only walk out my front door and look up to be greeted by a sky full of stars--without having to spit out any toothpaste before I can smile!