Today marks the END of our week-long fast!  For those of you who have participated, it may have seemed like a long week, or the week may have flown by.  In either case, the question I always ask myself at the end of any commitment time I set aside to the Lord is:  What next?  After all, we have been fasting for some very specific purposes, including asking ourselves what God wants to do in and through us to bring about the changes we've been praying for all week:  1) that God would pour out his Holy Spirit that we may see people receiving His healing and salvation; 2) that our lost family, friends, co-workers, classmates and all God puts in our path may come to Jesus in unprecedented numbers during this Easter season; and 3) that God will deliver us from the financial "dead-end" we find ourselves in and provide the resources that will allow us to move forward with construction of Phase 1 of His Mission Outpost at 127 Knoch Road. 

What has God shown YOU during this week of prayer and fasting?  What IS next for you?  How are you going to be a light to others in your life in new ways?  Who, specifically, has God brought to your mind that you need to call, visit, send a note, or come along side in ways you've never done before, that they may come to know Jesus, or receive His healing, or participate in the funding process for our Mission Outpost?  Has God shown you specific changes you need to make in your life in order to be closer to Him, more holy, and more effective as a witness to Jesus?  Have you picked up new habits this week in the area of prayer, bible study, or living that you want to continue after you break the fast today or tomorrow, depending on when you started the fast and have determined to end it? 

Every time I come back from a missions trip, I face the questions I asked in the previous paragraph, because missions trips ALWAYS give me an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord, to reflect on my life, to be renewed in my Spirit, and to consider changes that God wants to work in and through me.  So, the end of every missions trip is a beginning of something new--or at least it can be.  It's the same with something as major in our lives as a week-long fast.  For me, this week of fasting has reinforced the message that God gave me when I was in Cuba and returned here to the states:  I am working in the U.S. the same as I am working everywhere else--You must live in the power of my Spirit here as you did there!  The challenge of this new beginning for me has been that in Cuba the believers EXPECT God to work in miraculous ways.  They have seen it in their own lives. They depend on it happening for their church plants to move forward:  for hurting people to be healed in Jesus' name, for the lost to come to know Him, for buildings to be provided, and on-going transformation in their own lives---the very things we have prayed to happen among us all week long! 

Today could be the end of a week-long focus on God, and asking Him to work among us in new and powerful ways.  If it is that will be a good thing.  Or it could be that and the BEGINNING of us trusting Him to continue working in us to do the things He has revealed in each of us that must be done in order for His will to be done and His Kingdom to continue growing among us.  That will be so much better.  Yes, it is the end of a great week, AND by God's grace and our participation it is also the beginning of one that is even better!