August 2026 News
What’s New in Loaves & Fishes
In this issue of our newsletter, we are excited to inform you about some changes to the magazine that have been in development for some time. You may have noticed some of these changes already in issue 59.
Our editors, Shawn Schmidt and Andrew Crider, and our graphic designer, Teresa Sommers, collaborated on a cover-to-cover redesign of Loaves & Fishes. We believe the result will help the magazine to stand out in the prison setting, with an attention-getting jailhouse orange color theme, and an updated, modern look.
But the changes only begin with brighter colors and updated design elements throughout. Inside the front cover, we feature a brand-new study guide for the magazine. This guide will feature key points about the theme, scripture readings, and study questions.
Loaves & Fishes came to exist due to conversations our founder, Darold Gingerich, had with prison inmates specifically requesting reading material for growing in the Christian faith. Evangelistic material is more common, but discipleship content less so. Thus, we have always believed Loaves & Fishes occupies a unique space — that of encouraging prison inmates who want to grow in their walk with Jesus.
This focus will continue. We believe in helping inmates encourage others by submitting their personal testimonies and original poetry. Our puzzles and exercises are geared toward familiarizing them with the Bible. We hope to teach them real-life principles that will help them walk with God in practical ways, both behind bars and on the outside, such as using money wisely.
We also want believers behind bars to understand how they fit into God’s story and plan for His people — the Church. To that end, we are excited to bring to the magazine what we expect to be a long-running series. We were delighted to receive permission to reprint the text Church History: Resurrection to Reformation by Keith Crider.
This series will begin in issue 60, which is scheduled to ship in early September. We believe this will add value to Loaves & Fishes as a tool for Christian prison inmates to expand their minds beyond themselves and their immediate circumstances. Serious students of the Bible will be delighted to learn how the story of the Church continued after the book of Acts ends.
This brings us to one of the most significant changes we have made in many years at Lighthouse Publishing. Loaves & Fishes magazine is literally expanding! Beginning with the next issue, we are adding 10 pages to the magazine for a total of 60 pages. With all of the above changes and more, the mailing of our 60th magazine will be a much-anticipated milestone, only made possible by generous donors and by those who kindly distribute our magazine in places far beyond our reach.
Publishing Update
Issue 60 has been sent to press, and is expected in our warehouse in early August. The ship date is scheduled for the first week of September. This will be our third issue of the year, to be followed in December by our fourth and final issue for 2026.
Financial Update
To reflect a little, the year 2025 represented an unprecedented year of growth for Lighthouse Publishing, as donation revenues nearly doubled. This allowed us to reach our long-time goal of publishing quarterly, and work on marketing the magazine to more prisons.
This much-appreciated growth gave us sufficient funds for operating expenses as well as maintaining reserves for future use. We were also able to offer better compensation for our magazine and office staff. The expansion of the magazine is expected to add $3,500-4,000 printing and shipping cost to each issue. We also continue to build our library on PandoApp, a digital app on many prison tablets. These investments are made possible by your kindness.
In 2026, our donation revenues have returned to levels we have seen in the years prior to 2025. Based on year-to-date donations, we expect to begin to use up some of our reserves later in the year. We at Lighthouse wish to thank all those of you who have trusted us with these resources, and our goal continually is to use them transparently in a way that will most benefit our readers and build the kingdom of God. You are deeply appreciated.
Reader Feedback
This is to inform you of my address change so I can continue to receive without interruption. I am truly grateful and have seriously been blessed in my walk with Christ Jesus. Thank you! Pray for me as I’ll continue to pray for you.
—Darrel Brown
Ware State Prison, Waycross, GA
Distributor Feedback
[Loaves & Fishes] are the most requested booklet.
—Chaplain John Griffin
Coconino County Detention Facility, Flagstaff, AZ
