Steve & Mary Kreis

Part of the ministry is opening our home and our time to the men to come and stay with us when they have vacation time.  They can come in the fall when the lambs have been sold and the sheep are in fenced pastures or there is a shepherd to fill in for them.

For the third year we had the opportunity to be part of Gilbert and Cesar’s vacation.  This year they requested a trip to Colorado Springs and Denver.

Gilbert, Steve and Cesar at the US Air Force Academy

They enjoyed their native foods at a Peruvian restaurant in Denver

Snow is mostly off the high country and the shepherds with their bands have moved into the mountains for the rich summer pasture. We have had the opportunity to help ranchers and shepherds move two bands of sheep up to the high country. Here are some of the recent pictures.

Unloading sheep into the high country above Silverton, Colorado.

The awning was handy to keep us and the library books dry during a light rain in July.

One afternoon between visits I parked in the dryer country north of Meeker. On occasion I don’t have to drive far to the next visit and can park and get some office work done on the road. On my trip north in July I had the opportunity to stop in a mountain meadow and on a dry hill. These are good times of quiet and preparation.

Meadow north of Meeker, Colorado.

Camper all set for an afternoon of study.

Another afternoon to study.

One of the tools of the ministry to the shepherds is the Shepherds Library. A traveling library, a “Bookmobile” to shepherds has to endure four-wheel drive roads, dust and dirty hands. A few bo0ks have been lost. Some have been given away to men whom I can no longer visit. One theology text was given away to a shearer who hopes someday to enter the ministry back in Peru and who is friends with a Jehovah’s Witness. Shepherds have bought duplicates to take back home to give to family or to use themselves.

I am constantly amazed at the rich abundance of reading material in English. Yet it is often difficult to find titles I love in Spanish.

I have two custom made book bags to carry the books. The new bags open at the front to allow me to display them while still in the tool box of the topper. I can carry about 75 books and two cases of the New Testament on cassette and one case of the Bible on CD.