Our London experience

Thanks so much for your prayers for our time with family (and the saying “good-bye” part) – we are SO blessed and encouraged to know we’re being prayed for

We had an incredible time in York – what a time of refreshment! And getting to meet and reconnect with other brothers and sisters serving in the UK was UNREAL! I was so humbled to be around such amazing men and women of God…but to hear their stories and the testimonies of what God is doing…WOW! I think God helped us to regain perspective and charge on!

We left the conference early because we had to take my family to the airport on Wednesday (2 sad faces for that ). We decided to leave late Tuesday night (after the night session) and spend the night in London, to be closer to the airport. It was a 3 hour drive, and as we were “reaching our destination”, the GPS (aka: Sat Nav) had us pull around the back of the hotel. We drove in and saw a group of about 6 or 7 young guys just standing around the car park (aka: parking lot); I noticed something in the road and told Dan, but it was too late for him to avoid driving over the small black bump in the road. We pulled around the building and realized we were in the wrong spot, so Dan backed the car the way we had entered (where the boys were gathered) – and all of them came up to the car – angry! They were shouting at Dan that he had run over one of the boy’s Blackberry; they said we had to pay them 300 GBP or else they would call the police. (Apparently, it was a little black backpack that was lying in the road…what it was doing in the road? we still don’t understand that either.) Anyways, these guys got really upset and even got violent! They were shouting, hitting and kicking the car, and when Dan tried to drive away, one guy jumped on the back of the car and another jumped on the front! It was quite scary at the time! But God provided a way of escape! There was a little alley, and Dan drove through it – and then far away from those guys! Anyways, we called the hotel and they had us pull into the front of the hotel where their security cameras were, and they called the police for us. We gave a statement when the police got there, but it seemed that the boys were all gone by that time. (oh! and a blessing in disguise: the hotel had overbooked, so they didn’t have enough rooms for us, so we stayed at a hotel that was 15 minutes drive away!) After that situation was said and done, we realized that it must have been some spiritual warfare. It still blows me away at how the enemy knows to attack us or “throw us off” – but I’m even MORE amazed at how faithful God is. He kept us all safe and even took us away from that situation! (The only damage was a dent on the driver’s side – one of the boys kicked it in.)

With that whole crazy experience, it just reminds me:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

We will be starting the Bible study in our home this next week (Tuesday, July 6). PLEASE continue praying for us!

Much love, Niki (and Dan)

Prayer Please :)

Hi friends! Hope that you’ve enjoyed the latest pictures of our family adventures across England and Ireland

We’re now in York – and loving it! It is most definitely one of our favorite English cities. We arrived late last night and were blessed to be at the Sunday morning service at Calvary Chapel York – what an incredible time! God is good!!

We will be in York for the next few days for their annual Pastors and Leaders Conference. Please pray that God would pour into us through the sessions, and that we would all be refreshed. Also, please keep us (me especially) in prayer, as my family will be leaving this week. After a couple fun weeks of family time, they’ll be flying home…and I’m not looking forward to the “goodbye”…it’s always so hard. Please be praying for God’s grace on me

Thanks for being such a blessing through your prayers and support! Will keep you posted on how God answers!

Our Irish Adventure!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hey Everyone,

This past weekend we traveled to Lahinch, Ireland to visit some old friends who recently planted a new church.  It was a blessing to revisit friends as well as meeting new ones.  The weather was amazing as you can see in the slide show above.  We flew into Dublin and drove approximately 4 hours across the country to the west coast where we would stay in Ennistymon.  While visiting we traveled to Lahinch, Ennis, Galway, Balleyvaughn, and loads of other places as we took in the sights and stood in awe of the beauty of Ireland.  God is good and we’re so blessed to have visited.  Enjoy the trip through our lens!

God Bless

-Dan, Niki, and Fam!

Family in London

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Well, the day finally arrived!  Niki’s family has come to visit us and it’s been a really blessed time so far!  Niki and I drove up to London to meet them as they flew in from L.A. and spent a couple of days in London seeing the sites and hitting china town hard for some dim sum!

While they visit we’ll be introducing them to friends here as well as ministries that we are a part of, it’s really a joy to be reunited after 6 months, praise the Lord for this time and the refreshment it brings.  Please be in prayer as we travel around throughout the month with our family.  Above are some shots from our first few days together while in London.

Enjoy!

Dan

The month of May

Hi Friends! We are back – back on the “blog wagon”! It’s been a VERY crazy month since we’ve moved in – here’s a quick view of this past month, since we’ve moved into our new house:

*Dan’s mens basketball league team finished SECOND in the Bude/Cornwall league this season! (He’s been eagerly asked, by his teammates and current coach, back to play AND coach next year…which he is praying about)

*Also in basketball news: Dan is officially certified to coach basketball in the UK (a “Level 2 ” certification – which allows him to coach “officially” up to the University level)

*We’ve been asked to participate in/help lead a youth group that is starting in Bideford (basically, the churches in the area each have only a few youth, so this will be a “united church youth group” – it will serve as a typical church youth group, but will be comprised of all the Christian kids in the area…this is a big deal!! It’s something that’s never been done here before , and the churches are all in support of this idea!). We are in prayer about our involvement with this – please keep us in prayer! (as we are excited about this!)

*So far, it seems that the Lord is leading us to start the Bible study here in July. We have met with several Christians in the area and have shared the heart and the vision that God has given us – and many people are excited about an in-depth Bible study! They are hungry for the Word!! In the remaining weeks before July, Dan will be meeting up with several of the local ministers to share with them what we will be doing – and hopefully, establish good relationships with them. Please pray that God  would show them our heart is not to “take away” from what they are doing in their churches – but simply to build up the body of Christ – to equip them, and take them deeper in their study of the Word (or teach them how to study the Word for themselves). And please pray for us as we prepare for the Bible study.

*In addition to the Bible study, Dan will be discipling some young guys from Calvary Chapel Woolacombe. A few of them have expressed a desire to teach Bible studies and become more involved in leadership within the church… it is still in the works, but we’re excited to see what God might do through this!

Most recently – Dan was blessed with the opportunity to teach at Calvary Chapel Exeter on a Sunday morning (just yesterday!). We absolutely love this church body – we are always so excited when we have an “excuse” to be there . The teaching is now available online -

Have a listen:

http://www.calvaryexeter.co.uk/teachings.html

Praying that it encourages and blesses you, as it did me

Off to sleep now – but please check back! There will be some fun posts coming this week, guaranteed

Thanks for your support, prayers, and love! Good night…

We’re in!

Just a quick update to praise the Lord with you!! We are all moved into our new home – AND we now have internet! YAY! God is SO good, and we are praising Him that the move went so smoothly (it didn’t rain until AFTER we had everything in the house!)…and we are praising Him for this house and all that He has in store for us while we’re here! Please continue to pray for us – that the Lord would provide for our needs as we’re here, and that He would guide us into His plan for us here in Bideford (East-the-Water).

We’re running out at the moment, but wanted to leave you with this incredibly encouraging devotion by Jon Courson – it really blessed me and praying it blesses you today too!

May 5
	And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
	Genesis 48:18–19
“The Spirit of God has revealed to me that the younger son will be the greater,” insisted Jacob. “Manasseh will be blessed, too, but there’s a greater plan for Ephraim.” And that’s exactly what happened. Ephraim became the greater tribe by far. The ten northern tribes of Israel are called Israel, but they’re also referred to as Ephraim because Ephraim was predominant within the ten northern tribes. Culturally and traditionally, the elder son, the firstborn, was to receive all of the benefits and assume the greater position. Quite often, however, the Lord seems to tweak this . . . Cain was the firstborn, but it was Abel who was blessed. Ishmael was the firstborn, but it was Isaac who was blessed. Esau was the firstborn, but it was Jacob who was blessed. Reuben was the firstborn, but it was Joseph who was blessed. Aaron was the firstborn, but it was Moses who was blessed. Throughout the Word, the Lord often makes the lesser the greater, and uses the younger to rule the older. Why? I think the basic message is simply this: What is coming is always better than what has been. We tend to wax eloquent about the good old days. The Lord, however, says, “The best is yet to come. I’m going to take you from glory to greater glory” (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). This gives me real hope because I truly believe for our churches, for our families, and for us personally the best is yet to come. It just seems to be the way of the Lord if we choose to believe on Him and walk with Him.

Moving!

Just a quick post to let you know that we’re moving tomorrow! (Saturday, May 1) Please pray for us – especially with the weather…the forecast says it’s supposed to be raining off and on tomorrow (of course! it’s been sunny and blue skies for the past 2 weeks! of course they say it’s supposed to rain on moving day! haha ). Also, we won’t have internet until next week (it’s a bank holiday weekend….of course!) So we’ll post again as soon as we have internet!

Thanks for your prayers and support! Lots of love – and we’ll write again from our new home!! WHOO HOO!!

Out on a Limb

Currently my attention is drawn to my cottage window where the Lord has begun to call class into session for me.  The scene is set on the tree in my back garden.  The massive branches eclipse the view from my house and only allow glimpses of the countryside to sneak through the leaves. In those leaves a little sparrow zips about and eventually takes a breather on a dead limb, not long after the little guy perches the wind picks up and what seemed like stability is now wagging back and forth like my puppy’s tail.  It’s at this moment that I begin to wonder if that sparrow was taking mental tally of the “What if’s”.  Had he really thought through all the angles before choosing this branch?  Was his little birdie brain wrestling with the circumstances?  Did he start to question if it was all going to be okay?

Probably not

None of the questions that I was wondering about seemed to really matter to him as he spread his wings and just flew away into the breeze.

King David said in Psalm 102, “…I am like a sparrow alone on a housetop” and so too, I often feel like I’m out on a limb like the sparrow in my back garden.  I wrestle with the day-to-day decisions and wonder if the place I perch is only moments away from bending and breaking.  Like the sparrow, the Lord allows occasion to hang out and get my feathers ruffled or to open my wings of faith and depart from my worry.

Today has been one of those days where the building circumstances seem to clinch like a fist and sucker punch me in the gut.  I’ve been reminded how fragile I am when the pressure of life builds and my eyes aren’t fixed on the Lord.  In between prepping to move house, crunching the numbers for bills and expenses, and balancing decisions that pile up day after day, I sense the Lord breaking me down.  After my culmination of brokenness I wonder why I habitually test the laws of futility by trying to shoulder everything. It seems only after I have re-established my status of “knuckle head” that my eyes are opened to the reality of my situation and the Fathers limitless supply of grace and mercy being poured out over me, and my perspective from my cottage window can be maintained.

Interestingly enough the Bible mentions the similarities between sparrows and us more than once.  It was Jesus, who said,

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Matthew 10:29-31 NKJV

By: Dan Toro

Copper Springs Lodge

We are getting very excited about moving into our new place on Saturday (all of the final preparations are being made!)… but in the midst of the excitement of a new season, we also want to just take a minute to remember how incredibly GOOD God has been to us in this last season. Among many other things, He has blessed us so much with this sweet, little cottage to have as our home for the past 8 months – and we are so grateful for it! Looking at this “Copper Springs Lodge” serves as such a testimony of God’s faithfulness in our lives.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?” Matthew 6:25-30

“Louie Louie”

I’ve recently learned, this is what happens when you ask Luis Toro to take a picture for you…

you think he took a nice one, but then….

oh! whoa! too close!!

“is he taking it??”

can’t stop laughing….

Thank you, Mr Lu