Loaves & Fishes Out the Door!

News

Here’s a little update of what’s been happening with Loaves & Fishes.

Volunteers and Mailing

The Loaves & Fishes booklets were delivered here on January 12 from Carlisle Printing. My wife’s family came from New York to help prepare the booklets for mailing. In two days we were able to get all the quantity subscriptions boxed up and all the single subscriptions addressed and ready for the mail truck.

The Lord miraculously opened the door for the mail truck to take the entire mailing in one load the following day!

A Nice Upgrade

We bought a used address printer machine for $1,200 that prints addresses directly on the Loaves & Fishes single subscriptions. It eliminates the step of printing labels, is more efficient than our other machine, and does a much better print job. This machine is another answer to prayer!

Feedback From Chaplain John Sherman
(Travis County Jail • Austin, TX)

“Thanks a million for the Loaves & Fishes recently sent to the unit. I appreciate so very much your concern for the men who are incarcerated. Many of them are desperately trying to make a change. Many have found the power of God’s word and the encouragement through books and booklets like Loaves & Fishes.

“The quality and quantity are perfect. I put them out on tables in the back of our chapel. The men devour them. Most often they are gone within a couple of days.

“Thanks again for your labor of love. As you know we have no budget dollars whatsoever. That is why your gifts mean so much to us and the ministry that God has given to us here at Travis County State Jail.”

Prayer Requests

We are rejoicing that the Lord made it possible to publish another issue of Loaves & Fishes so quickly. Our goal is to continue printing one issue every three months as the Lord provides.

Please pray for funds to make this a reality in 2010 and for God’s leading as we prepare new issues for publication. Money is tight right now, but we trust the faithfulness of God and hope for your partnership with us in this work.

For Christ,
Lavern Gingerich
Loaves & Fishes, editor
www.lighthousepublishing.org

Wonderful Answers to Prayer

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More Workers

For months we had been praying for a volunteer to help open and process mail from prisoners. The Lord has answered this prayer in an unexpected way, and we are deeply grateful. Robert Miller and his young family have moved down from Michigan to fill this position for at least four months. This is working out very well.

Another Printing of Loaves & Fishes

We are right in the middle of publishing another issue of Loaves & Fishes! It is encouraging to see the recent increase of donations. The last issue went out in October of last year and now about three months later, we have enough funds to print and mail another printing. Can you shout Hallelujah?

Because of other obligations, my dad wasn’t able to print the booklets this time. Carlisle Printing in Ohio agreed to print them for a deep discount, so there was not a huge difference in cost to have them do it. This was also a big answer to prayer.

One of our goals is to publish an issue of Loaves & Fishes every three months, so if we can keep up with this schedule, we have met this goal! We sincerely appreciate all those who partner with us in this work.

Pray for Us This Week

We have a big week planned with my wife’s family traveling down from NY to help prepare Loaves & Fishes for mailing. There are many things that could go wrong or hold up the progress. Please pray that every obstacle could be removed and these booklets could be sent out soon for God’s glory.

For Christ,

Lavern Gingerich

What Will You Give to Jesus?

News

I don’t know whether you participate in the shopping madness of the Christmas holiday or like to eat lots of good food in celebration of Jesus’ birth. But as we near the end of 2009, I invite you to consider these words of Jesus with me:

“Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42, NKJV).

Here Jesus promises a reward to the one who gives a little gift to a little person. I don’t think Jesus is talking about wandering around in stores looking for the latest technology and gadgets for those who already have much more than they need.

The promise is to those who see real needs and meet them in the name of Jesus. Feed a hungry child as unto the Lord. Encourage a despairing soul as unto the Lord. Visit a lonely mother in jail as unto the Lord. Disciple a young believer in prison as unto the Lord. Jesus assures rewards for small deeds to small people—the poor, the young, the weak, the failures.

The story of the poor widow who gave her last coin to God (Mark 12) is an example of how Jesus values those gifts. She was in a line of many rich givers, but Jesus said this woman put in more than all those who gave their extra money.

In all your giving, what will you give to Jesus? I hope you will choose to give many gifts to Him throughout this coming year.

You Can Make a Difference!

We see an urgent need to publish Loaves & Fishes at least four times per year. For the last couple years, we have only been able to publish one issue a year because of lack of finances.

We are looking for 350 partners who are willing to give $1/day. If donations would increase by this amount, we think we could publish Loaves & Fishes four times per year.

Click here to help send Christian literature to hungry prisoners.

For Christ,

Lavern Gingerich

Many Prisoners Give Thanks

News

“Thank you for this issue of Loaves & Fishes. It has truly brought more light into my life.”

Tonya Houk • TCF • Topeka, Kansas

Here are some excerpts from our November 2009 printed newsletter:

I have dedicated this month’s newsletter to thank the Lord and you—our faithful partners—for making Loaves & Fishes possible. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to send Christian literature to tens of thousands of prisoners across our nation.

Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, your time, and your financial commitments. Many prisoners are giving thanks on our behalf for the gifts you give us (2 Corinthians 1:11).

The Lord has opened the door for us to hire Anthony Hertzler as assistant editor for Loaves & Fishes. Anthony works from his home in Oklahoma and is a great help to me in this work.

Anthony and I are working hard to get another issue of Loaves & Fishes ready to print by the end of December. For the past two years, we have only been able to print one issue per year. Our goal is to mail the next issue in January, only three months after the previous one. This is a high goal for us, but we can easily reach it if we all work together.

Because of other obligations, my dad won’t be able to print the next one or two issues of Loaves & Fishes here, so we are shopping around for a printing company. We plan to mail the booklets from here.

We expect the overall cost of producing and mailing this next issue to be around $40,000. Even $1/day can help us reach our goal of one issue every quarter.

Please pray that God would open the doors for a good deal on the printing and give us wisdom to be faithful stewards of His resources.

With sincere thanks,

Lavern Gingerich

13 Thank You Letters From Prisoners and Chaplains

Since it’s thanksgiving month here in the USA, we wanted to let a few of our subscribers thank you for helping to provide the gift of Loaves & Fishes. We get lots of unsolicited feedback. Here is a small sampling of letters from prisoners and chaplains.

“Your publication inspires and has a positive effect on our men and women so I thank you for your generosity.”
J.  Yates, Chaplain’s Assistant • San Diego Correctional Facility

“I just received my first issue of your Loaves & Fishes magazine, and I want to thank you so much for it!”
David in Virginia

“I enjoy reading your magazine and thank you for sending me them.”
Keith in Pennsylvania

“Thank you for your services and may God bless you.”
Rudy in California

“Thank you for your recent shipment of Loaves & Fishes. They are a popular magazine here and we are thankful for the regular shipments.”
Jeremy (Chaplain) in Iowa

“We enjoyed your booklet so much. Especially the Noah’s Ark story. We learned things we didn’t know. Thank you!”
Crystal in Texas

“I have benefited immensely from reading Loaves & Fishes!! Thank you.”
Jeff in Connecticut

“I have really enjoyed this magazine very much. All the articles are insightful and…inspirational… I look forward to my next issue with great anticipation. Thank you so much for feeding my hungry soul with Loaves & Fishes.”
Michael in Florida

“Thanks brothers for your love and sacrifice putting together this publication and offering it to us. I loved every page of it.”
M.T. in Texas

“Your efforts and works are appreciated. Your Loaves & Fishes gives people hope and makes people stop and think and realize that they are not alone. So thank you all at Lighthouse Publishing for Loaves & Fishes.”
Apache in Connecticut

“I would like to thank you for the Loaves & Fishes booklets, and we will continue to pray for the ministry.”
Donald (Chaplain) in Massachusetts

“Thank you all for your dedication and hard work. I look very forward to hours of reading enjoyment in the near future. Once again, thank you!”
Holman in Arizona

“Thank you for sending us your latest edition of Loaves & Fishes. Our inmates certainly enjoy this publication, and we are grateful for your contribution to our program here at Gainesville CI.”
Steven (Chaplain) in Florida