What's in a Name?

Some friends and family have asked, "How did you choose the name 'Moore Samuel'?" We've had some wild guesses about the name "Moore." Since "Moore" is a well-known surname in the U.S., some have guessed that we named our son after a surname. Most people would not guess that it is a family name from Bob's side of the family. Bob's maternal grandfather's first name was Moore. Moore Wellson Laloo was a Church of God pastor for over 50 years in Meghalaya, India. He was an incredible man of God who loved God and his family. Grandpa Moore had a big influence in Bob's life, telling Bob the first Bible stories he ever heard and always showing love.

For those who knew Jenny's dad, you probably guessed that our son's middle name comes from Sam (Dunbar). Jenny's father's full name was George Samuel Dunbar, so "Samuel" was actually his middle name as well, but he went by "Sam." He was also a Church of God pastor for over three decades.

What do we call our son? We call him Moore; however, we will use the nickname "Sam" when we speak in French.

We thank God for two incredible men who profoundly influenced our lives and we pray our son will also be a strong man who takes after his grandfather, Sam, and his great grandfather, Moore.

March-April 2013 Newsletter

Mar-Apr 2013 Mihsill Newsletter

In the Kitchen with Bob

Here is a short, time-lapsed video of Bob cooking Indian food: curry, dal and alu chop...cooking, listening to music and dancing with a spoon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILHgd16dI0E

Along the Oregon Trail

Oregon, just the name of it sounds organic. Jenny grew up in Oregon and her immediate family lives in Woodburn.

 Oregon also reminds Bobby of his city Shillong and the state of Meghalaya (in India) with beautiful pine trees, waterfalls and the constant rain.  We flew into the Northwest at 11p.m. on January 24th, which was 2 a.m. Indiana time.

Display

Our first day, we went to set up our display at the Oak Park Church of God (GHOG) and met with the Missions Commission. We  set up our display and made sure that the technical stuff was all ready to go for the “How-To" Convention. If you are wondering what that is, it is a regional convention that the Oregon/SW Washington CHOG congregations put on annually to inform and train pastors and church lay leaders.

Hoodview CHOG

                                       

 On Friday evening, Hoodview Church of God hosted a missions dessert for us and we shared our passion over coffee, key lime pie and cheesecake. The pastor, staff and the congregation at Hoodview were amazing. They all gathered around us and prayed at the end.

Lunch at the "How To"

The second day in the early morning, we headed out to Oak Park CHOG in Salem and met some old friends and made new ones. The event started with a morning service and the guest speaker focused on urban ministry. There were powerful stories of lives changed in Salem. The attendees then broke in to sessions. We spoke during part of the first session and during the second session, we had the opportunity to share in Dr. John Johnson’s session “Call to Missions,” where we shared a little about our cross cultural experience.

We also shared at lunch and were introduced during the third session, which was led by Dr. Bob Edwards.

The convention was a blast and we made some new friends that day!

Morning service

Missions Commission

Jenny and Bobby speaking in the morning session.

with a representative from Aloha CHOG

Voodoo Donuts

The convention was over at 3 p.m. and on the way home, Bobby had to stop and get tacos from a local taco truck in Woodburn -- known to be the best taco truck around! Later in the evening, after we had a family dinner, we made a stop at a well-known donut shop, "Voodoo Donuts." You may have seen it in some food shows; Bobby saw it in Anthony Bourdain’s "No Reservations." On Sunday, we visited Mt. Scott CHOG and later in the evening we had coffee with friends and ate dinner with the Johnsons.

      We had the Monday free and decided to go for a site-seeing, destination Multnomah Falls. (See video/check link below) Tuesday, we met with Ben Shular and drove up to Centralia, Washington. On the way back, we got to have coffee with a good friend, Randee Doe. Wednesday, we flew back to a much cooler Indiana. We enjoyed our time on the West Coast!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31324378@N04/8434406600/in/photostream

Baby Mihsill

Baby Mihsill waves (see fingertips above nose) on today's ultrasound

This morning, we had an appointment with maternal fetal medicine after being referred by my OB who had concerns about the baby’s kidneys. I was a little nervous after finding out that there was a forecast of icy conditions on roads, but the roads on the way were clear and we arrived just fine.

We went straight in for an ultrasound with the technician and a pediatric urologist came in to explain what he saw. The ultrasound showed a small amount of fluid in the kidneys. The urologist explained this as minor prenatal hydronephrosis. While that was not what we were hoping to hear, we were encouraged by the following information the urologist gave: prenatal hydronephrosis is fairly common (about 1/100 in utero babies have it) and it corrects itself in the majority of cases. Only about 20% of babies have to have surgery to correct it after birth.

The pediatric urologist will monitor the condition by having us come in for an ultrasound once a month. Our next appointment is February 11^th. Then, he will put the baby on amoxicillin after delivery and examine the baby to determine whether surgery is needed or whether the condition with correct itself on its own.

Please pray that the next ultrasound does not show additional liquid in the kidneys and that the condition will correct itself naturally without surgery.

After the urologist left, the maternal fetal medicine specialist came in and went over all of the elements of the ultrasound with us – from the baby’s head to his toes – and all other development looks normal. He is growing well! He’s now 1 pound, 8 ounces and in the 75^th percentile for weight.

A foot! (toes to left, heel in right upper corner)

We did love seeing pictures of our little boy again today! He started up by hiccupping when the ultrasound first started and then gave us a big yawn partway through the exam! He also waved (see picture at top of post)! He moved around the whole time and this is the second ultrasound technician who has told us we have a very active little baby boy!

We’re thankful for God’s continued provisions and blessings. We praise God for this encouraging news and for all of you who love us, care for us and have been praying for us! We are humbled and grateful.

January/February News

Happy New Year! May you be blessed in 2013!

Church in Abidjan looks to expand

The Church of God in Abidjan is growing! They are currently looking for land to purchase. Please pray that the Lord would lead them to the right piece of land. It is exciting to hear about the ways God is working in Cote d'Ivoire!

Travels: Midwest to West Coast


To meet our goal of being fully funded by September 2013, we've been traveling! Meeting many new friends as we've traveled this fall has been a true blessing! From Michigan to Indiana to Illinois, we've been treated to wonderful conversations and warm hospitality. At the end of January (Jan. 24-30),  we'll be heading out to the West Coast.


Baby on the Way in May!

Our 20-week ultrasound on Dec. 20th showed that we are having a BOY! We are very excited to welcome the first grandchild on Bob's side and the first grandson on Jenny's side. Our obstetrician had only one concern: the valve from one of the baby's kidneys to his ureter is measuring too long. If the measurement is correct and the valve continues to grow too long, the baby will need surgery after birth. We will be seeing a specialist from Riley Children's Hospital on Jan. 14th so the specialist can take a closer look. Please pray for Baby Mihsill!

Upcoming Events

• Please pray for us as we are scheduled to be the speakers for the South Meridian Youth Ski Retreat in Michigan from Jan. 18-20.

   • We will be in the Northwest (Oregon/Washington) from Jan. 24-30 for the "How To" Convention in Salem, Oregon and to visit churches and individuals. If you would be interested in meeting with us during our visit & discuss partnering together, please contact us at jennymdunbar@yahoo.com. 

Praises & Prayer Requests

• We had a blessed Christmas and were both able to relax while taking some time off wor

• We are so thankful for and encouraged by the individuals and churches who have committed to partnering with us this year. 

• Please pray that God will lead the church in Abidjan to the right piece of land for purchase.

• Please pray that our appointment with the maternal fetal medical doctor on Jan. 14th will show that the baby is fine and will not need surgery.

• Please pray that additional churches and individuals will commit to partnering with us in 2013.

Overdue

Hello, Friends, This blog is quite overdue: five months! A lot has happened since we got appointed as missionaries to Cote d'Ivoire.  In July, we took a trip to Colorado with our South Meridian Youth for the International Youth Convention. On our return from Colorado we were able to visit a few campmeetings and share our story with people at the camps. First stop was at the Yellow Creek Lake campmeeting during the last weekend of July. The speaker for the camp was Dr. James Lewis. We also volunteered to help out with youth activities along side Mike Snyder, Crystal Snyder, Time and Kit Bush. We had a tractor ride in the evening; it was a gorgeous night sky out in the country.  We also had the opportunity to share at the Akron Church of God. Bob had to head back to work on Monday, but Jenny headed straight over to Ohio for the Payne, Ohio camp meeting. In early August, we went to St Louis, Michigan campmeeting and spent Saturday afternoon sharing with the young adult class about missions and on Sunday we were introduced during the service. 

Jenny was invited by the CWC ladies to West Frankfort, IL for the Southern Illinois campmeeting and had a wonderful experience sharing and making new friends.

In mid-August Jenny went back to work and the new school year got off to a good, but busy start.

In the the fall, we had a few opportunities to build new partnerships with some churches here in the Midwest. First, we visited Ithaca Church of God in Michigan in October. We had a wonderful time with the pastor; our host Dee and the congregation were awesome. The first evening, we shared our stories with a group of friends around the camp fire, followed by some good chili. On Sunday, we were given the opportunity to share in Sunday school and in the service, Jenny delivered a great sermon about making disciples "as we are going."  After the service we enjoyed a delicious potluck dinner with the congregation.

Two weekends later, we were at Tillman Road Church of God in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As we were driving on Sunday morning trying to find the church, we saw our names on the church signboard out front in bold letters: "Welcome Bobby and Jenny Mihsill." The sign had just made our morning even wonderful, knowing that the Church was welcoming us so warmly!and we will be building newer relationships. We both shared during the Sunday School hour and during the morning service. This was followed with lunch, good conversations with beautiful people.

Seven days later, we joined the Fairmont Church of God for an African night dinner. We had googled map the directions to the church and when we arrived at the location, there was no church! We drove in circles looking for the church and later called the church . What had happened was, there was the same exact street name at a town nearby and that is where the map took us. We had spent driving 45 minutes more that we should have, but we did finally get to the church. It was a great evening, with African food that was prepared, African games, stories and some African Trivia. We got to meet some wonderful people who have hearts for Africa and we enjoyed seeing Sherman and Kay Critser at the dinner!

A week later we traveled to West Frankfort, Illinois for their Faith Promise Sunday. On the drive there, a bonus was the one hour time gain and the beautiful sunset.  We had a wonderful service on Sunday morning with Bob preaching and met with some very welcoming people. The fellowship continued with a great Thanksgiving lunch!  

Our travels have slowed down a bit near the holidays, but we'll be up and on the road again come January!