Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.

March 7, 2013

Dear Brethren,

We were not able to have our monthly baptism services in December and January. We even had to postpone our homecoming service until February. We scheduled the baptism to coincide with the homecoming service. There were 862 present. We baptized 75 new members. This time we decided to let all the ladies go first. I baptized the 37 women and my son-in-law, Dauro, baptized the 38 men. A couple of the women I baptized used to be Presbyterians. One of these is a judge.

Most of the people this time are adults. The Lord’s Supper followed the baptism. At the close we fed the whole crowd up on the third story terrace of the annex. I managed to get the tile down and the bathrooms far enough along to use. There is still a lot of work to do, but at each of these events we have the building in better shape.

The newest members of First Baptist Church, Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil. 75 were baptized on Sunday morning.

A few days ago we had a get-together for all of our couple’s small groups. This meeting was also held up on the third floor. We had 110 couples present. This was a lively meeting with plenty of fellowship and food (of course). Our couples groups have tripled over the past year. The number of groups has increased and the size of the each group is really growing. Since I returned from our visit to the States in 2011 we have gotten these age/interest groups better organized and done much more training. Anyone can attend our small groups as long as the whole group approves.

We have several lost people attending. Many of these would be averse to going to church…at first. One such couple that started coming to our group a few months ago are doctors. Their marriage was on the brink. The group has nursed them along. They invited us to have our last meeting at their house. We had 18 of our 21 couples present. By the way, these groups are supposed to have only 7 couples maximum, then multiply (start a new group). Anyway, at this last meeting the husband came to me and said that they are going to go to church for the first time on Sunday. They invited themselves!

This week I met the new commander of the Military Police and his wife (similar to a local police force, but run by the state). Our small group approved my inviting them to attend our next meeting.

The elders of our church held a weekend retreat at our camp. There were 55 men present. I didn’t get to go as I was holding service at the penitentiary that weekend.

Already this year I have taught our membership class to 5 big groups of new members and some older ones, too. The course is 8 hours. So far over 200 people have completed the course. The last round was a day-long marathon to get the last bunch through by the end of the month. We started classes at 3:00PM. It was raining one of those Amazon Valley rains. I got soaked just getting from the house to the jeep; even with an umbrella! Even so, I had 50 students! Years ago we couldn’t even get out a single soul for Sunday services if it was raining. Now they come out by the dozens under torrential rain on a workday to study. We finished up in the early hours of the next day. It took us about 10 hours straight through. The students were pretty much spent, but still had enough energy to break into applause at the close of the marathon. The teacher was just plain dead, so the Holy Spirit had to drive the jeep back to the house.

Our seminary classes started last Sunday. We have about 350 students enrolled for Bible Survey, Life Principles and Study Methods. People really do want to study. More about this later.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.

In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com

Click here to donate to BFM.