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We’ve been busy getting the new issue of Loaves & Fishes magazine ready to print. It’s in review stage now. If all goes well, we will have books before Thanksgiving and they will be in the hands of readers in December.
I never get tired of seeing a new issue go out the door. The preparation time is stretching, but a thrilling opportunity.
The printing will cost $16,500. Postage to send them out will probably be at least $12,000. It looks like we will have enough funds to mail them once they arrive. We truly value your faithful prayers and support! Without your participation in the team, this project could not go on.
“Hello, a friend just gave me a very old issue of Loaves & Fishes. I really am enjoying it.… God blessed me by putting this issue in my life because it’s covering things I needed now, to know in my life.”
Raymond Hollis • Parr Highway Correctional Facility • Adrian, MI
It’s encouraging to see God expand the team. We’ve hired a new editor, Josh Bechtel, who lives in Illinois. He’s already proving to be a blessing. Anthony Hertzler in Oklahoma is also an editor for Loaves & Fishes. Both of them work remotely as I assign projects to them. We use Dropbox to synchronize our documents from the working folder to our three computers. When any of us changes a file, it updates everyone automatically. This makes it very easy to stay organized and work with a team in other parts of the world.
I upgraded my Adobe® Photoshop® and InDesign® software recently. It’s always fun to work with new tools, and features in the newer versions help us be more efficient and creative.
I depend heavily on my team and my tools to get the job done efficiently. Without them, Loaves & Fishes would not be what it is.
I love the challenge of bringing all the pieces together and sensing God’s direction throughout the project. I had selected an Anabaptist martyr story to include, and I thought this issue wouldn’t be what it should be without it. Deeper into the project, I realized we needed to gain about six pages somewhere in order to make everything fit.
We discussed condensing either the martyr story or one of the other articles. I had total confidence my editors could do it, but I knew it would take a lot of extra time. When I decided to follow the suggestion of my wife and replace the original story with another one we had on hand, it dawned on me why the first one didn’t fit. The new story flows perfectly with the burden we have for this issue.
Loaves & Fishes is God’s work, and He plans every part in advance. We are simply His hands to package these articles, stories, testimonies, and poems into a magazine—a special gift that will touch the hearts of prisoners throughout the USA.
We offer free Bibles to prisoners with a box ad in Loaves & Fishes. Friends of ours in Missouri were supplying the Bibles and sending them to the prisoners. They were ready to turn it over to us, so my Dad started calling around, looking for a good source. Through Mt. Zion Literature Ministry, the Lord led us to find someone who has access to surplus Bible inventory. We were able to pick up close to 430 large print Bibles for an average of $4.79 each. Some of them are $40 Bibles with bonded leather and cross references!
We don’t know what will be available once these are gone, but I’m sure the Lord has it planned already.
The Lord is already directing for the next issue, and we’ve begun editing. Our goal is to be at least two issues ahead of production, so that each time the funds are available, we will be ready to send it to press immediately.
We are committed to being faithful at the pace God leads us. Perhaps soon more funds will be available, and we can reach our goal of at least four issues a year, instead of one or two.
As always, thank you for your support and prayers. Loaves & Fishes could not exist without a team, our tools, and God.
Until the night comes,
Lavern Gingerich
