A Shower of Tiny Raindrops

Inspiration

Our goal here at Lighthouse Publishing is to provide free discipleship tools to thirsty souls in prison. Maybe you get tired of hearing this, but I’d like to say it again, “The door is open. The opportunities are huge to touch thousands in the prisons of our country with printed literature.”

We who work at the office can’t do it all on our own. Lighthouse Publishing is a channel, an opportunity for the church to partner in prison ministry. Together we make a team.

Picture a carefully tended flower or vegetable garden. Those plants need water to prosper. How many drops of water does it take? Obviously, too many to count!

The prison population in the USA is like a garden. As we work with Jesus Christ, we are like cool, refreshing water to thirsty plants. It takes more than a few drops, or the work of a few select people.

Of course, one cup of water can make a difference, but it takes a drenching shower to water the whole garden. It only takes one person to make a difference in someone’s life, but it takes a team to accomplish the big picture.

Our dream is to attract and inform a team of men and women who are enthused about building God’s Kingdom in the prisons—people excited about the power of written words and the open door of reaching prisoners through printed literature.

Please click here for an opportunity to help inform your friends and church about the open door in prison.

Let’s join our time, energy, and resources to form a shower of tiny raindrops that those in prison could feel God’s love, light, and life.

For the Kingdom,

Lavern Gingerich

Recommend Us to Your Friends

Loaves & Fishes , News

Literature Packets

For the past six months, except for the work in the mailroom, we’ve been mostly working on 1) raising awareness and 2) making internal changes in the ministry in preparation for growth. In addition to becoming officially non-profit and obtaining a non-profit mailing permit, we’ve been able to reach some other significant milestones.

A big one is the resources we have published to help inform and raise awareness for the ministry. Here is a list of them:

• A ministry presentation in a full-color booklet. This is an effective way of raising awareness among churches and individuals.
• 3 Marks of an Effective Missionary, a 20-page booklet designed to inspire God’s people of their mission and to explain the basis of the ministry here.
• Five full-color bookmarks with poetry from Art Mayse (a friend of ours in prison) and one that reminds us to pray for the prisoners of the USA. Each of these mentions Loaves & Fishes and encourages prayer and financial support.
• A cheery refrigerator magnet with a prisoner testimonial on it and our contact information.

In the recent weeks, we’ve sent custom information packets to various segments of our database. Now we are looking for new contacts to send literature to. Hopefully, you can help us get these resources into the hands of potential donors.

How You Can Help

Friend-to-friend recommendations are one of the most effective ways to raise awareness for a cause.

Would you like to help us spread the word about Lighthouse Publishing and the wonderful opportunities to touch hearts in prison through literature?

Perhaps you have friends who have never heard about the open door in the prisons. Maybe your church has never been involved in prison work.

Be a voice. Simply let us send you some free literature packets. You can share them with your friends and churches that might be interested in learning about and supporting the work of Loaves & Fishes.

To order these resources, just send an email to info@lighthousepublishing.org. All we ask is that you use this literature for the glory of God and join us in prayer for the progress of the work.

For the Kingdom,

Lavern Gingerich

God Remembers Your Work of Love

Inspiration

Are you ever tempted to lose heart and simply give up? Oh, how relaxed life could be—if only the battle would be over, the work done. Or just to be permanently discharged.

But no, the One who sent us out has not called us back yet. The fields are still white for harvest. Workers are needed to finish the harvest before the night comes.

Some time ago, God encouraged my heart with Hebrews 6:10:

“God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

Yes, God remembers your labor of love for the saints. It’s important to preach the Gospel to unbelievers, but it’s just as important to minister to the saints. “Teach and make disciples” is just as much a command as “Preach the gospel to every creature.”

Whether we strengthen a weak one, help heal a broken heart, or show kindness in times of distress, God remembers the labor of love toward His people. He sees it, rewards it, and supplies the resources to go on.

Sometimes I have questions and fears. Then the Lord encourages my heart with verses like Hebrews 6:10, and I find strength to keep pressing on.

If you are a servant of the saints and tempted to just hang it up and choose an easier battle, be encouraged. Remember God is not unjust to forget your work of love toward His name.

For the Kingdom,

Lavern Gingerich

Ministry News and Prayer Requests

Loaves & Fishes , News

Non-Profit Postage Permit

As we said before, Lighthouse Publishing is now officially under our local church. Just recently, we finally were able to get a non-profit postage permit to mail at non-profit rates. This will save us several thousand dollars every time we do a presort mailing for the Loaves & Fishes single subscriptions! We will also save money on other presort mailings, such as the newsletter.

New Voice Mail System

Our old setup wasn’t recording complete messages anymore. If you left a message and never heard back from us, we are sincerely sorry. We’ve switched to a new voice mail system hosted with our phone company. It only costs $3/month and is just what we need.

New Bookkeeper

Esther has been responsible for the bookkeeping here for the last several years. With three little ones, it had become very difficult for her to keep doing it. The Lord is faithful and provided for this need also. We’ve hired Rosanne Gingerich, my sister, to be our new bookkeeper and cleaning lady. The carpet in my office is cleaner than it’s been in a long time. I think she deserves a raise already.

Next Issue of Loaves & Fishes Magazine

We have inspiration for the next issue of Loaves & Fishes and hope to start preparing it soon. Please pray for direction in this project.

We have close to $14,000 on hand. We’re not sure yet if we’ll print this one here or have someone else do it. If we outsource the printing, we could move ahead once we reach $20,000.

Project Goals

Our heart still beats with a vision of publishing Loaves & Fishes four times a year. We also see a huge opportunity to touch thousands of women with a magazine directed specifically toward mothers, wives, and single girls. Besides, we’ve had a vision for a Spanish version of Loaves & Fishes for years now.

However, we don’t feel clear launching into other projects until we can do at least 3 or 4 issues of Loaves & Fishes a year. Our main, and perhaps only, constraint is lack of funds.

We need wisdom in these decisions. Please pray for us that we could bring glory to God and expand His Kingdom with the donations of all our dear partners.

For the Kingdom,

Lavern Gingerich