Loaves & Fishes
Have you considered how empty life would be without words? Without words, your life would consist mostly of emotions and images.
Words are priceless—not just spoken words, but also written words, especially when they are arranged effectively to form engaging literature.
Among the first examples of published literature were the Ten Commandments, inscribed on stone tablets by the finger of God. It was important to God that His words were written, not just spoken. When Moses demolished the “literature,” God rewrote the commandments for His people on another set of stone tablets.
Advanced Publishing
Publishing has advanced in amazing ways. School boys used to press marks into wax tablets. Now I can simply press keys, and characters appear on my computer screen. If I write something I don’t like or want to add more to a previous paragraph, I can instantly delete or rearrange my words. (Ah… you have no idea how many times I rewrote that sentence.)
Many years ago, scribes would dedicate months to tediously copying one book. Some were meticulous; others were not as careful. Dim lighting, poor eyesight, fatigue, and impatience could all take a toll on the quality of the finished product. There was no other method available.
In those days, anything longer than short personal letters was normally hired out to professional scribes whose entire career was copying words by hand. Today we can duplicate literature with 100% accuracy, and it’s no longer a tedious, back-breaking job. Modern equipment makes it easy to duplicate literature on paper millions of times. Technology lets me share literature with people on the other side of the world as soon as I hit the save button.
Written words are powerful. The ability to freely publish literature with mass duplication compounds this power.
Advantages of Publishing
Leverage: While written words will never replace spoken words and living examples, written words exert unmatched leverage compared to other forms of communication.
In other words, literature helps us magnify the impact of truth. We can publish 80,000 copies of Loaves & Fishes and the power of that literature goes on for years, decades, and even centuries, all without taking additional time and resources on our part.
Influence: Like a road map, literature influences destinies. It persistently changes minds and invokes emotions, both for the good and the bad. Effective literature often has permanent effect on those who read it. God uses literature to bring souls into His Kingdom and to disciple believers.
24/7 Preacher: Literature has liberty like none of us have. Show me a messenger that is welcome in a prisoner’s bunk all day any day. Or one that fits into a teenager’s shirt pocket. Written words make themselves at home in desk drawers, purses, and truck consoles—even under the pillow of a seeking soul—right within reach exactly when the recipient is ready to open his heart.
Many organizations and religions, such as the Communists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons, realize the potential of written words and invest as much as millions of dollars per year in publishing their message.
As we shared before, the fields are ripe for harvest, and there are many open doors in prison. Literally thousands have asked us to speak into their lives.
Will we wake up to the opportunities of advanced publishing before the night comes when no one can work? Or will we allow Satan’s servants to saturate the prisons with his message while we lag behind, hoping someone else will finish this task?
Printed literature is powerful, and God uses it to change lives. It gives us leverage to make more of an impact than we could otherwise. Literature has liberty to preach and teach when the recipient is ready, even 1,000 miles away at 2:00 in the morning.
The Need for Publishing
It takes around $30,000 (plus overhead) to produce and mail one issue of the Loaves & Fishes magazine (about 80,000 copies).
Everything is in place to prepare, print, and mail additional copies of Loaves & Fishes, as well as process incoming mail from prisoners.
We need prayer for wisdom to prepare more issues of Loaves & Fishes and to minister to the prisoners who write back. We also need more finances to reach our goal of four printings a year.
Thank you for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. We hope that you will continue to partner with us for the glory of God.
For the ripened grain,
Lavern Gingerich
