Tag Archives for " loaves & fishes magazine "

What Readers Think About Loaves & Fishes

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“Thank you for your generosity in providing the Loaves & Fishes publication to our institution. It is an excellent source of spiritual food for our inmates.”

Charles D. Kleiser, Chaplain Supervisor • Apalachee Correctional Institution

“Loaves & Fishes helped me to feel close to the Lord even when my hope was fading.”
Linda Vetterly, Aliquippa, PA

“The 450 Loaves & Fishes that we received on January 20th, 2009 are truly a blessing to the men here. Thank you for your faithfulness even in these difficult times. It is because of ministries such as yours that we are able to minister to almost 2,000 men here at Jackson Correctional Institution. Please continue to remember us in your prayers.

“Thank you again for your help on behalf of the men at Jackson Correctional Institution. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless you and your ministry.”
Ron Evans, Senior Chaplain, JCI, Malone, FL

“Thank you so much for your wonderful magazine. I always enjoy the stories and beautiful poems. And it helps my understanding and walk with Christ. Thank you.”
Nancy Wright, VSPW, Chowchilla, CA

“Many of the men are seeking to grow in the Lord. Your publication is a blessing to them. Again, thank you.”
William Ohl, Institutional Chaplaincy, SCI Mercer, Mercer, PA

“The women like inspirational reading and love to read the reflections in your magazine that draw us all closer to God. It means so much to the women when they realize others remember them.”
Mary Ann Collins, Chaplain, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills, NY

“I’m learning a lot with yall’s help…. I’m a recovering addict and this book is giving me so much inspiration to want to know more about God.”
Sebastiana Avalos, Lubbock County Jail, Lubbock, TX

“I really enjoy reading your magazine, the testimonies especially touch me, keeps me always looking up—not down.”
Joe Bowers, Tenn Colony, TX

“I got a copy of your book Loaves & Fishes from my cell mate in the box at Liberty C. I. Your book opened doors in my life that I might not have ever known existed…. Since then the blessings haven’t stopped. Thank you.”
R. W. Putty, Jr.

A Change of Schedule. Disappointment?

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Last month I wrote that we are wrapping up another issue of Loaves & Fishes for publication. We’ve finalized it now and it’s ready to go—except for funds to cover the printing costs.

I had high hopes of maintaining the quarterly schedule and publish another issue in April. I thought God would provide, that we had the support backing it up that we needed. I thought the donations would keep pouring in as they had been. Instead, donations have dropped so much that we are receiving only enough for an operating cushion to cover bills and overhead.

Even though our plans and dreams may be disappointed at times, we can be assured that God is in complete control. His plans are not disappointed. The Psalmist in deep distress comforts himself with this promise about God, “They cried to You and were delivered; they trusted in, leaned on, and confidently relied on You, and were not ashamed or confounded or disappointed” (Psalm 22:5, Amplified).

Please continue praying for this need. We need approximately $16,000 to get Loaves & Fishes printed and brought into our building. Will you partner with us and help us reach our goal of one issue of Loaves & Fishes every quarter?

“I would like to thank God for Lighthouse Publishing. With your help I found Jesus, and I want to learn more about Him.”

Waymon Gabriel Coleman

Mail Room Report

Robert and Verba are faithfully keeping up with incoming mail and requests in the mail room. It’s been about two months since we mailed the last issue of Loaves & Fishes in January, so the mail flow has slowed down, but it still takes commitment to keep up with all the reading, sorting, coordinating, and data entry that goes on there.

For Christ,
Lavern Gingerich

Who Can Afford the Pearl of Great Price?

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Dear Friend,

Have you paid the price to enter the kingdom of heaven? Are you a serious disciple of Jesus Christ?

In Matthew 13, Jesus compared a person entering the kingdom of heaven to a merchant buying one beautiful pearl. This pearl was so valuable the merchant had to sell everything to afford this one pearl.

It takes nothing less than everything you have to follow Jesus Christ. He said, “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). And “if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

This then is the cost of following Jesus—everything. The money you have in the bank and in your pocket, your time, your house, your garage, your car, your wife, your children, and even yourself. When you become a disciple of Jesus Christ, everything becomes His!

This does not necessarily mean that you can’t use and enjoy material things here on the earth, but it means that Jesus is now the owner. You have no right to control your life any longer. It’s up to Him to say how your money is used and what kind of house you live in and what kind of truck you drive. Everything is His, and Jesus always makes decisions in the light of eternity.

So who can afford to purchase the pearl of great price and become a true disciple of Jesus Christ? The person who is willing to forsake everything. It is not how much we have that counts, but how much we give up for the kingdom of God.

Let us forsake everything as the poor widow who gave all her money to God and not as the religious folks who gave their extras to God (Mark 12:41–44). Jesus sits nearby watching. Will you forsake everything for Him? He invites you to an eternal inheritance that begins today and will only become more precious in the ages to come.

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

Sweet Rolls

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On and on the printing press “rolls,” cranking out thousands and thousands of freshly printed sheets per hour. These are sweet rolls without sugar—it sure is sweet to see the press run again!

Darold (my dad) is on his second week of printing the new issue of Loaves & Fishes (volume 7, issue 1). This week he finished printing the color covers and the color section for the inside. Today he started printing the main body of the book on our web press which uses rolls of paper.

We are printing 85,000 copies of Loaves & Fishes this time. It takes over 200 miles of paper at 11 inches wide, which costs over $10,000.

We praise God for making it possible for us to purchase this paper and move ahead with the printing. Thank you, supporters, for your help!

Here are some photos I took of the printing.

Dad is hoping to finish the printing by the end of next week before our family vacation in the mountains. Please pray for continued success and good progress this week and next.

Our goal is to bind these booklets in September and start mailing them as soon as we have money for the postage. We think it will take around $15,000 to mail all the subscriptions.

Please pray for the postage we need to send these out and consider being a partner with us in this work. See our donation page for more information.

For Christ,

Lavern Gingerich
Loaves & Fishes, editor