The Wild, Wild West of Brazil
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. 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.
Dear Brethren,
Four months and counting. Cruzeiro do Sul is still two months behind the rest of the world as far as the evolution of the virus is concerned. Last month the city and state went crazy doing all kinds of traffic stops requiring masks even inside your car. In one of these stops the city official opened the door to my jeep without my permission and the lady cop already had her hand on her gun and I was resisting or didn’t even have a chance to resist. MY MASK WAS ON! It has gotten really scary here in the wild, wild west of Brazil. The state has finally rushed to finish a new wing of the hospital. There are 100 new beds, including 10 new intensive care units and 20 more semi-intensive care complete with all new respirators and equipment. All beds in all medical facilities are full. They have quit publishing data. No test materials are available, so no new tests are being run. The death toll continues to rise. We are New York (of 2 months ago) times X factor of chaos.
Then 2 weeks ago they let all the stores reopen and churches to meet. Well that ought to work out really fine! I called for a special meeting with the pastors to discuss what we would be doing. We are not opening any time soon. Other churches started meeting, but with empty buildings. The people aren’t as stupid as the bigwigs think. The rules for reopening were draconian. The most troublesome was the presence of government monitors (spies) to check for compliance. In the past we have seen that the media do not show up to cover our mission programs, social programs, rehab programs or even our big Christmas or other events. I am sure that they would have been crashing the doors to check out our reopening. We don’t intend to give them or the state the satisfaction. We will come back when we feel that the Lord has led us to, in His time and in His way. The church is solid and doing well. We have actually seen an improvement in our giving. Our missionaries are being taken care of in a timely way and we are still able to do some minor work on our buildings.
We have authorized our small groups to meet and the band/praise groups to practice. Hundreds of our people have had the virus already. Supposedly many are already immune. We sadly did lose Brother José Nunes to this disease. We have many hospitalized.
Given the situation, most people don’t even go to try to find a doctor or the hospital. Most are just self-medicating based on what they see on TV and the internet. Those medications that are most highly recommended are not available here.
As for the Creiglows, we are trusting the Lord. We are being careful. We are still working though. In fact, I have been keeping my grandsons busy working for me. Just a couple of weeks ago, Alec (one of Andrew’s boys) got a full-time job. Andrew’s wife Eline is still employed. She works for GOL airlines, but since there are no flights she is at home with the little ones. Andrew continues to work. Crissy’s school is shut down for now. Dauro and I continue to work at camp. Actually, I have several construction projects going simultaneously. These are providing work for my grandsons and a couple of our church members. I don’t know how long I will be able to keep this up. Staying busy helps me out, too.
We have had quite a bit of really good family time and this, too, has been helpful.
Well sorry to bring such a gloomy report, but it is how things are right now. I sure hope things are better for all of you. We pray for you all the time and hope that you will remember us often in your prayers. Thank you again for praying for us and continuing to support us financially.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig@hotmail.com
Personal Site
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
Successful Surgery & Record Attendance at Christmas Musical
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. 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.
January 21, 2020
Dear Brethren,
Grace and peace to all. 2019 ended and 2020 started with tons of work, but no real news. Sorry, it’s true! I have worked a lot, but don’t have much to report or little to show for all the activity. There are a few things that you may be wondering about, so let’s fill in those blanks.
Andrew is finally home and well. After over a year in and out of hospitals, fighting with said hospitals, doctors and insurance company, the Lord opened the door for the equipment to come to Manaus for his procedure. The word came down right as I was in the midst of the preparations for the Christmas Musical. Andrew went to Manaus and once the final dates were set for his surgery, I went to be with him. It was a huge success. In fact, it was the first procedure of this nature in all of northern Brazil. There were over 20 people (mostly doctors and other health care specialists) in the room to watch the procedure. The doctor was able to do all that we had been praying for and a couple of other things were corrected, also. You can’t imagine my joy 2 weeks later seeing my son on the front pew during the Christmas Musical smiling at his little boy, Devin, who was on stage. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for him. Thank You, Lord!
The musical was a lot of work as usual, but really great. We had 6 presentations (6 nights) ending on Christmas night. We are now in our new building and set several attendance records. We averaged just under 1200. On Christmas night we had 1718 in the building. Many people were not able to get in. A few more people were saved.
I only made one short trip out of town so far this year. I visited the congregation at Canela Fina. This work was started by Igreja Batista Betel, which is one of our daughter churches. It rained big time and it was pretty muddy, but the building was packed with over 200 people.
The first weeks of the year have been mostly just plain ole hard manual labor. I have been building a new office for me in our garage. Beverly needed a space for her crafts, so I gave up my office in the house and built my new space. It is not quite finished, but getting there. Yesterday I finally installed a new router to be able to have internet service. Now all I “need” is a lazy boy and big screen TV for my man cave to be complete! Waiting for Beverly to approve those last 2 items. It may be a while.
In my spare time (?) I have been working on my boats and motors getting ready for the upcoming mission trips of the rainy season. The new 60HP and 25HP outboards have finally arrived. My old motors were 11 years old. Thanks to the churches and friends who have helped to purchase the new engines. It took months to get them here, but now it will only take a few more days to have the boats ready. There are a number of repairs to do on the boats. The 25HP is already installed on the jon boat, but waiting for water in the river to do the break in. In fact, last week I was supposed to go up the Moa River, but the rains stopped suddenly, and all the rivers are shallow and clogged with stumps. The bigger boat needs several repairs and the installation is much more complex. Right now, I am waiting on new control cables. The old ones off the old motor are different, so I had to order new ones.
Bev and I have had some health issues. She had dengue fever! Fortunately, she had a mild version of it or maybe she is just plain tough. Probably the latter. I have had 2 kinds of infections over the last few weeks. Routine stuff, but very painful and debilitating. Had to go through rounds of antibiotics. Even though health care here in Cruzeiro do Sul is rather precarious, I have the advantage of having folks in the church that are doctors, nurses and lab owners. One lady that has a lab, came to the house to take my blood sample, did the full round of tests and even brought the results to me. One of our doctors took care of me by cell phone. I did have to go out, get a shot at the ER and buy medicine, but our folks take good care of me.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
Read more
An Update on Andrew Creiglow
Thank you to all those who have prayed for Mike Creiglow’s son, Andrew, who had surgery in Manaus on December 6. Below is an update on him from Bro. Mike.
Saturday afternoon, 12/14/19
After 11 days in Manaus, I finally made it back to Cruzeiro do Sul on Thursday afternoon [12/12], after two weather delays on two flights.
Andrew’s surgery was a complete success! Andrew had to fight through his illness, and fight the insurance company, hospitals, and some of the doctors for months to get this done, but it was worth it.
First and foremost, Andrew is recovering quickly. He has had almost no pain and nausea. There have been a few fitful nights, sleep-wise. We think that may be due to the 4+ hours of general anesthesia. His blood work is still not ideal, but that may take time as well. After all, he has been ill for a very long time, and his liver may need some time to heal. His skin is clearing up much faster than expected. His skin was yellow and itched, and his eyes were yellow, too. It usually takes about 15 days for these to start clearing up. His were almost normal after just 4 days!
With the “Spyglass” equipment and surgery procedure [for example: https://www.aurorahealthcare.org/services/gastroenterology-colorectal-surgery/spyglass], the doctor was able to do not just what we had hoped and prayed for, but two other things that we doubted would be possible. I won’t bore you with all the details about that. Here is a short list of what they were able to solve: get into the original bile duct, remove a pile-up of stones and sludge, break up and remove all the stones in his liver, inspect the derivative surgery (2015), snip the valve that releases bile and insulin, and install two stents. The 2015 surgery was well done and was what was keeping him alive (just barely). The bile duct was not ‘narrowed’ as the MRI and other tests had indicated. There was “just” a buildup of stones and sludge that could not be handled by the conventional surgery of 2015.
After the surgery we found out that this was the first procedure of its kind in all of north Brazil. We also learned that there were 20 doctors and medical companies present in the operating room besides the team that actually performed the surgery! This was a much bigger deal than what we realized. The doctor said that this will open the door for other patients who before had little hope. Andrew has already been back to the doctor on Thursday. His next and hopefully last visit will be on Monday. He found out that this second visit will have the press (TV and magazines) there to interview him. The medical journals will have articles published, too.
Well, hope this sort fills in the many gaps in my sparse communication. If you see fit, you can relay this to some other pastors and folks who might be interested.
We are thanking the Lord non-stop. I usually wake at some time after 4:00AM to start my daily prayer life. Over the past few days I have awakened during the nights and can’t help just repeating “Thank you, Lord” over and over again. Thanks for all of your prayers and care for us.
In Christ,
MikeC
Read more
Back Home in Brazil; Pray for Andrew
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. 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.
July 31, 2019
Dear Brethren,
Well Bev and I finally made it back to Cruzeiro do Sul. It seems like every time we try to get home, we have some big adventure. What should only take us 2 days always ends up being 5 or even a week! I won’t bore you with the blow by blow. We are just really glad to be home.
Of course, when you are away from your “stuff” for a few weeks, the “stuff” gets messed up. The batteries on my jeep and motorcycle both gave up the ghost. I went everywhere in town and couldn’t even find a battery for the motorcycle. Not even available in the capital, Rio Branco. So, much of my daytime hours have been spent trying to get things up and running again.
Things at church are going great though. My first week back, they had me very busy. On Sunday morning I did a “Sermon in a Sack” for the little ones. This was done in the main auditorium. The adults enjoy this almost as much as the kids. Then I had all the youth and adults for a lesson about some basics for the family. It was VERY basic, but when I finished, they responded with loud applause. This happens now and then, but always catches me off guard. I preached the evening service and there was one lady coming to move her letter from a church in Rio Branco and three people were saved.
We have been able to do a few little things on the building. Right now, we are really concentrating on paying off a few bills from the first stage of the rebuild.
Please pray for my son Andrew. He is back in Manaus and it looks like he will be having major surgery again. He has seen at least 4 doctors already and will be seeing another tomorrow. His body produces stones in his liver. He has had a number of procedures. He had major surgery in 2015 and we almost lost him. I was with him through the whole ordeal. If he does have to go through another surgery, I will be going to Manaus to be with him again. He does not have any kind of insurance. The socialized medicine (Brazil’s version of Obamacare) doesn’t work. Please pray.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
Read more
God is at Work in Cruzeirão, Cruzeirinho, Cruzeiro do Sul, & Assis!
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. 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.
November 23, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Last month Beverly and I went to Assis, Brasil, for the ordination service of Pastor Eliésio De Oliviera. He has been pastor at First Baptist Church for over 16 years. When he was in high school, he was a member of our church and after graduation he went to seminary in Belém, Pará. When he returned he went straight into the pastorate. He has been on many mission trips with me and has been a great colleague in the Kingdom. The church asked me to perform his ordination. Four other pastors helped out.
We went back 2 more times to Assis, Brasil, to attend their 56th anniversary conference. I spoke at the opening then closed out the meeting on a Sunday night. This conference was really special as the church had just moved into their new building and I was honored to do the dedication. They had huge crowds all 4 nights. I don’t know how many people the building will seat, but it is several hundred. There was one profession of faith and a number of other decisions.
We had our last baptism of the year here at First Baptist in Cruzeiro do Sul. We added 31 new members. This month we lost 2 more really faithful families who were transferred to other cities. We did gain 2 more families though. Our growth is very slow because of all the folks who move away. We are grateful for the growth we have though.
Bev and I also visited the work at Cruzeirão. They are in a small building that seats about 150 people. They had to have most of the members go outside to free up seats for visitors. I closed out a month of lessons on the family with them. I shared the gospel, too. There were a couple of professions of faith.
I made a visit to Cruzeirinho, also. We had our first big rain that night, so the crowd was down a little, but still they had over 100 people.
If you are confused about all this “Cruzeiro” stuff, here is a quick explanation. The name of our city is Cruzeiro do Sul which means Southern Cross. Most people in the region just call it Cruzeiro. Then Cruzeirão means “big Cruzeiro”, but not because it is bigger than Cruzeiro do Sul. Rather it is near our soccer stadium, which is called Cruzeirão. Cruzeirinho means “little Cruzeiro” and it really is little!
Our church has had to celebrate Thanksgiving in our small groups for the past several years. Years ago, we tried to find places to have the whole church together, but it was just too big and even expensive. My small group, which is way overdue for what we call multiplication, had 51 people for our dinner.
On November 27th I will be taking my son Andrew to Manaus for yet another surgery. He has been really ill and the doctors discovered that he has several stones in his liver. One of these is 3/8th of an inch in diameter and has caused excruciating pain and other symptoms. We have been able to see doctors and get some basic tests done, although the local hospital is basically shut down right now. The state has not paid doctors, nurses or other help for the last few months. Andrew does not have any kind of insurance, so we will be paying everything out of pocket. Please pray for him and the procedures.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
Read more
Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [April 2015]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. 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.
April 15, 2015
Dear Brethren,
First Baptist Church just sent out our newest missionary family. Idevaldo, Queila and their two little girls left for the city of Jordão on March 17. The town is just 8000 people of which half are Indians from three different tribes. Jordão is at the mouth of the Jordão River. The town actually sits on the banks of the Tarauacá River with the Jordão flowing in on the other side. The Tarauacá is a tributary of the Juruá River (our river) and flows into the Juruá hundreds of miles down stream from us. Just to remind you: The Juruá River is a tributary of the amazon. All this to say that Idevaldo and family are way back in the bush, almost on the Peruvian border.
It took several days to get their furniture and baggage there. The river is very small and shallow. Even though we are still in the rainy season, one day without rain that far up means that only small canoes can get through. They finally got everything there and moved into the house we rented for them. They have already had the first services and 9 people have been saved. We are the first and only Baptists in the whole region.
Unfortunately I was not able to go along to help them with their move. My son Andrew fell ill suddenly about 4 days before that trip. He went to the doctor on a Thursday, ran some tests on Friday and on Saturday he and I were in Manaus. Five doctors that we talked to here told us that he should get out of Cruzeiro do Sul and see a specialized surgeon in a big city as soon as possible. We had all the appointments set up to see the doctor in Manaus before we ever left home. We were able to get all the tests and reserve the surgical center for the same week.
The surgery was 3 hours and went well. The recovery started great, but then there was a complication. He was in grave danger for a period of over 60 hours. I did not sleep or eat during that time. Many hours of prayer. He was conscious most of the time, but came very close to death. The Lord spared him though. We are back home now and he is recovering nicely.
The first Sunday back in the pulpit was a great and humbling feeling. That was Easter Sunday. My message started with God’s explanation that the life is in the blood. Then we went through the last moments of the death of Christ in the 4 gospels. Then I shared the sensation I had as a father seeing the life drain out of my son. My son was spared though. God’s Son was not. Nobody will ever know or fully understand what that feels like. Andrew and I can appreciate it considerably more now. Five more people gave their lives to Christ that night. Many tears were shed as they understood at least a little of what our God did for us. I still can’t stop crying every time I remember. Continue to pray for us. I am still not over this ordeal, by any means. It will be a while.
Andrew’s treatment was all done through private medicine. He doesn’t have insurance, since it doesn’t work that well in this kind of economy. If he had gone through the government provided “health care”, he wouldn’t be with us today. Anyway, if you would like to help, please do. He has a wife and 4 children to support and this was a major hit financially. Just hospital and surgery were about $7,500.00.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
Read more
