In addition to the commissioning service Oakwood chose March 14 to try a different way of presenting our supported missionaries. In the past the church had put on an annual missions conference with as many of the supported missionaries in attendance as possible. Each one would be given the opportunity to speak to a group of the members and some would address the whole church during one of the worship services. Our Missions Commission (MISCOM) found that this method was not working as well as they would have liked.

This Sunday the MISCOM implemented a new strategy for reaching the congregation with information about missions by focusing on one ministry at a time. We had “BBI Sunday” and along with our commissioning, Jerry and Mildred Petersen, who serve at BBI’s radio station on the island of Roatan off of the coast of Honduras, did a mock radio show. It gave them the opportunity to give an example of one aspect of what they do at the radio station, give an update on what is going on with their ministry, and show a video clip that contained interviews with some of the stations listeners. My parents, Gerry and Sharon, did the announcements and gave an update at the beginning of the service. Rev. Evan Drake, BBI’s new president gave a message on the “Sending Church.” We also had a display booth that took up the whole back corner of the worship center.

From the feed back we have had, I believe the whole service was a big success. We are also going to have an open house here at the mission headquarters on Tarpon Springs Road on March 28. It will be from noon to around 2pm and will include a picnic. Everyone will bring their own lunch. Plates, chips, drinks, and desert will be provided. If anyone is interested in attending the open house please give us a call at (813) 920-2264 M-Th from 8am until 5:30pm or drop us an email so that we will have enough seats, drinks, and deserts for everyone. You can get more information by calling the phone number above or by stopping by the welcome center in Oakwood’s foyer. There will be fliers and a sign up sheet and you can get a map to the offices. The map is also available on the BBI website. Just click here to be taken to the contact page where you will find a map and our address.

Leanne and I are privileged to be in full-time service at BBI. We are also grateful that we are part of a missions minded church. We are looking forward to what the Lord has for our future and appreciate all of you who have supported us through your prayers and finances.

We have been very busy here at BBI. In addition to all of the normal activities, if you can call our daily schedule normal, BBI is in the early stages of launching our own relief effort in Haiti. Later this week Evan Drake will be making a trip there to asses how we will be directing our efforts. There is more information about that effort on the BBI website at http://www.biblebasics.org/haiti-emergency-relief-fund/.

Please continue to pray for us. We are learning how to raise a 2 and a half year old and any of you who have done that know it is an adventure. Also, please continue to pray that the Lord would give us direction on how to raise the remaining support we need. Our last newsletter went out just about the same time the Haiti earthquake happened so the extra gifts that we usually get did not come and we haven’t even covered the expense of sending out the letter. I have been working on making it possible to give on-line and was able to set up the BBI web site to accept donations to the Haiti Relief Fund. Soon I should have it set up for the rest of the mission as well. Hope to post more later and more frequently, talk to you soon.

Daniel & Rodney

Daniel is a typical boy that loves cars, trucks and trains. He is very tall and very social for his age. He likes to talk and repeats what Mommy and Daddy say. He’s dramatic when he wants his way but not strong willed. He has his temper tantrums but he’s a compliant child. He’s very bright; learns new things quickly. He puts his left shoe on his left foot and his right shoe on his right foot! He remembers words or activities from weeks ago that amazes me! He’s never been in daycare but seems to adjust well to new people and environments.

Daniel loves all kinds of fruit. I’m learning that he’d rather have fruit than any kind of dessert. He’ll eat dried fruit such as raisins and “Craisins”(dried cranberries). “Cheez It” crackers are his favorite snack! Don’t say CHEESE when he’s hungry because you’ll have to give him extra sharp cheddar cheese-(Daddy’s influence). He’ll eat chicken nuggets, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, flounder and tilapia. He likes spicy foods and absolutely has to have some kind of dipping sauce or condiment like BBQ sauce or ketchup with his chicken or fish.

He just moved up to the 2 year olds class at our church. It’ll be very good for him to socialize with other 2 year olds and be in a class room like setting. He loves the Disney Pixar movie “Cars” and asks to watch it often. His new interest is “Thomas and Friends”. We bought him a wooden railway set including Thomas and a coal car. We also bought him 2 Thomas DVDs and enjoys watching them. He’s a dare devil when it comes to swimming pools. He loves to get wet! I need to get him some swimming lessons soon because he just wants to take off like a fish in the water. He can be a goofy kid; goofy comes naturally in the Pruden home. Brett would probably say there’s more goofiness on my family’s side.

He enjoys playing with his cousins from Michigan during the few times we are able to see them. His cousin, Luke, is 8 months younger than him and they had some precious interactions -back in June. His Aunt Hope says that 3 year old Zoe asks often if she could play with Daniel. He adores his Aunt Ann and loves visiting with his “Pa Pa”. He likes going over to his Grandpa & Grandma B’s house to visit with them and climb the stairs. He has spent some time in TN with his Grandpa Rick and Grandma PeiPei. He loved exploring their huge 5 acre property with Grandma PeiPei. He kept saying “Hi burros” to their burros. They spoiled us by keeping fresh strawberries in the house whole time we were there. (strawberries were in season then) We are planning to visit them again soon!

One of Daniel’s cutest moments was when he was 9 months old. We were at Walmart and he was sitting in the shopping cart as I pushed it along. Suddenly, Daniel saw a baby girl in a shopping cart too and squealed with delight. I had just caught a glimpse of her as we turned into an isle. I was amazed how aware he was and that he saw her that quickly to respond. He’s always smiled or waved and/or said “Hi” to cute girls -no matter what age they are.