New Full-Time Missionary in Tipisca; Two More Ready to Go
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 9, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Our missionary to Peru, Brother José Maia, just made another visit to the Kaxinauá tribe on the Breu River. This river is the border between Peru and Brazil. The tribe lives 35 miles upstream. This is a very hard trip this time of year. The river is tiny, shallow and full of log jams. He took a young and new arrival from another reservation on the Purús River. This missionary was recommended by a former worker, Eduardo Puricho, who is now working in Pucalpa, Peru. The new guy is Brother Fred. As you may recall, José always has to preach through an interpreter. This time Fred did the preaching in the native language. Seven made professions of faith. Two of these were the twins, Cosma and Damiana’s, parents. Fred has now gone back to bring his wife and children back to Tipisca. He will be our newest full time missionary. Now we are trying to get his support together. With the economic crisis that Brazil is going through, it will be a big challenge. The Lord will provide. We have two other missionaries ready to go to two other fields. They are also waiting for us to get their support together. Pray for us.
Last month I made a visit to our congregation at Serra do Moa on the upper reaches of the Moa River near the mountains. Two of my grandsons went with me. These are 2 of Crissy and Dauro’s boys. Caleb, their oldest, is 11 years old and Adriel is 8. The river is already at its lowest, so we went in and open boat with a jet drive outboard. The going was slow, but easy to get over the logs and shallows. They were really good travelling buddies. On Sunday morning we had a really big crowd. The building was as full as it could get, the porch was full and many standing in the field outside. We had folks from four of our congregations from three other tributaries of the Moa River. After the regular service we went down to the river for a baptism. The river is plenty wide, but very shallow. There is a beach on the church side of the river. The crowd was standing on the beach. I was almost on the other side of the river to find enough depth. Five were baptized. Some of these were Nukini Indians. For the first time ever I took a water proof camera out into the river with me and was able to take a picture of the congregation back on the beach. Pretty neat and I will send you one of those shots along with a picture of the candidates.
We held a baptism and Lord’s supper service at First Baptist Church on Sunday, June 26. There were 21 new members added. The crowds were as big as they could be for our “little” building, both in the morning and at night. It has been a while since both of these services have been this big.
Bev and I are in Rio Branco right now. She underwent some minor surgery and is recovering well. I am here to take care of her. We hope that the doctor will let us go home next Thursday.
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
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Full Missions Conference; Other Twin Saved; Special Family Time
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.
June 8, 2016
Dear Brethren,
We moved up our annual missions conference this year to coincide with the church’s birthday. The church was founded by Joseph Brandon on May 12, 1929 with 13 members. We are now 87, still young and growing. We started the activities off with a banquet for all of our missionaries, chapel pastors, pastors and the wives. Then we had four days of classes and services. The first night was about the church, her history and where we are planning to go. We closed out with a special night dedicated to our missionaries and their service. The building was full every night, but on Sunday night many people were turned away as there just wasn’t any way to get even up to the doors. The church had the children take up a special offering for our missionaries. They carried several fish nets around as the members used “fish” envelopes to put in their gifts. We were able to give each of our 10 missionaries a couple hundred dollars extra before they returned to their fields. This was pretty good, given the economic downturn (huge understatement) that we are in right now. On the final night we had one of our men surrender as a missionary. Now we have three to send, but are short of funding, so please pray that things will turn around soon.
A group of children singing about missions during the conference.
A couple of months ago I told you about the twins from the Kaxinauá tribe. Damiana was saved and I baptized her. Her sister Cosma was reading her Bible day and night. Well I just got word that she has been saved! In fact, there is another little side story to go along with this good news. A few weeks ago I was in a little hardware store downtown. It is a long narrow thing, old style where the owner sits at his desk near the door. There is a narrow passage between his desk and a jumble of motors, pumps and chainsaws. There was a family of Indians standing right there talking. I was on the inside waiting to get out. There was what appeared to be mom, dad and kids of different ages jabbering away in their native language. I just stood there smiling and waiting for an opening. The store owner’s wife informed me that they were planning on buying a motor. Then one of the children looked at me, grinned real big and said to mom and dad, “Pastor Miguel”. I shook everybody’s hands, but still didn’t know whom I was talking to. Then dad said in Portuguese, with a very heavy accent, “We are Cosma and Damiana’s family. You baptized our daughter. She is very happy.” We then proceeded to get caught up on all the news from their tribe way up river in Peru. It was a really fun experience to finally meet the rest of the girl’s family. Pray that the rest of them will be saved.
Our daughter Monica and her daughter Isabella came down to visit us. Monica had not been here since 2008 and Isabella, who is just 5, came for her first visit. We had 9 of our 11 grands together for a short 6 days. Talk about a party! All of us had a good time, playing ball, boating, swimming and camping. Melany (one of Andrew’s girls) and Adriel (one of Crissy’s boys) got really attached to Isabella and she to them. When it was time to say goodbye, things got really tense and sad. We miss them a bunch and will have to wait no telling how many years to get together again. Many times folks talk about the sacrifices that missionaries make to be on the field for life. Most of the time people are thinking about material comforts that must be given up. We never give that a second thought. The distance between family members though, is hard to cope with.
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
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Missionary Update: The Creiglows in Brazil [May 2016]
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.
May 9, 2016
Dear Brethren,
One of our chapel pastors, Rondisson, went with me to visit one our newest works on the upper Juruá River. The congregation at Triunfo started this new work. It is further upstream. It is over 250Km (156 miles) up river from Cruzeiro do Sul. My motor was pretty cranky and kept us on pins and needles the whole trip, but we made it. It was really hot, but we didn’t get into any rain and the river cooperated with us. The water level was stable, which is very rare. We spent 3 days with them. They also dedicated their building while we were with them. We spent three days there and held 4 services. Two young women were saved and there were some requests for baptism. They already have 8 Christians in the village of over 150 people. There are 28 households. This new work is a great-granddaughter of First Baptist Church. The name of the village is Boa Vista.
Bev and I visited the chapel at Cruzeirinho. They are doing very well. They have a really big new building close to being ready to move in. They are still in their little wooden building up on the hillside. They have used the new building, which is already under roof, for a couple of events. They can’t move in just yet because they don’t have it under lock and key. The neighborhood has a history of drugs, robbery and vandalism, so I don’t blame them for waiting the right time. Anyway we had a good visit with the house packed out and a few decisions.
The new work at Boa Vista, a great-granddaughter of First Baptist Cruzeiro do Sul.
I have spent quite a few hours working on my boats and motors. All of them are 7 years old and starting to give me a little trouble. I did manage to solve the problem with the engine that we ran to Triunfo.
All is going well at First Baptist Church. We started an evening service for the children from 3 through 11 (multiple classes), which has helped free up space in the auditorium. It is usually packed and this has helped a little. Needless to say the kids are really excited that they have their own service on Sunday night.
There have been a number of retreats at our camp – Acampamento Salém. Most of these were training retreats. One, however, was for the older folks in our church. Pastor Pedro leads the ministry that takes care of the folks with gray hair. He took over 60 up to Salém. They had a great time. Bev and I were only able to go up for lunch on Saturday, but we still had a great time with them.
We really need you to pray for Brazil. The economy has been in a recession for over 2 years. We need to send out 2 new missionaries, but giving has dropped off as our people struggle to get by. The political turmoil right now is as bad or worse than ’63 when the military regime took over power. I realize that the US is in a big political mess, also. Brazil has reverted back to a banana republic in just a few short months. We are praying for you. Please pray for Brazil.
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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [April 2016]
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 11, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Let me begin with the biggest news and work through as much as possible. I probably will not be able to get to everything, but here goes my best shot.
First Baptist Church authorized the organization of our new church at Vila São Pedro. This work was started a few years back and has now reached a level that we felt comfortable enough to make the move toward independence. They have a nice big brick building. They have 2 local pastors that we trained and are already supported by the new church. Then there is one of the most important items that qualify them to be a local independent church. They have already started a couple of preaching points on their own. The new church was organized with 40 charter members.
The new church at São Pedro the night of the organization.
A couple of weeks back I spent 3 days with First Baptist Church at Mâncio Lima. This is the second oldest church in the state. They are just a year younger than First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul. We will be 87 years old in May. They just turned 86. We spent the 3 days teaching about the Function, Mission and Vision of the church. Over the years they have become inactive in missions. Now they have become interested again and I am going to do all I can to help them get involved once more. Their pastor is brother Eliel, a local guy who went to seminary, pastored a couple of other churches before returning home to Mâncio Lima. He is a soft spoken, low key kind of guy, but is excited about getting back to basics. The largest crowds were on Saturday and Sunday with over 200 present.
The baptism at Serra do Moa (mountains along the Moa River).
Zico and I have been back to visit the works on the Moa River. Our main man there is Aldenísio. He is from the Nukini tribe. A couple of years back he was still single and that became a problem. He got married some time back to a girl from the Poyanaua tribe at Barão. He has spent a lot of time at Barão while dating and was away too much from his field of service. We have had to take up some of the slack. He still has to build a house at his home reservation. The name of that place is República and we have a small congregation there. Zico made a visit in February. He and I went up the Moa in March. I took my smallest boat with 20HP motor to save gasoline. That, however, left us exposed to hot sun and rain for many hours. The Lord blessed though and we had a good trip with little discomfort from the elements. The visit with the congregation at the Moa Mountains was great. Although they have not had a preacher for several months they have been very faithful. We had over 60 people on Sunday morning. One of the older couples of the village just got officially and legally married. They were thrilled to finally be baptized after all these years.
On the same Sunday morning that I was baptizing at Serra do Moa three of our other pastors were doing the same. Pastor Benjamim went to visit our mission at Ramal dos Caracas and baptized several there. In the mean time, Pastors Ezi and Dauro baptized 35 more into First Baptist Church at home. Pretty good weekend, wouldn’t you say?
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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [March 2016]
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.
March 9, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Have you ever heard of saints Cosmas and Damian? Probably not, but here in Brazil they are very important. The twins were, according to tradition, born in Arabia in the 3rd century, but later lived and worked in Syria. They were doctors. Their most famous miracle was to transplant a leg. Again this is all from Roman Catholic tradition. They were martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Today they are the patron saints of doctors and nurses.
In Brazil, however, the veneration goes well beyond the usual. They have also been absorbed by the main spiritist groups, such as Candomblé, and are the protectors of children–mainly twins. The oldest standing church building in Brazil is dedicated to them, built in 1535.
One more story about them was that they never took money for their services. One day though a lady that had been healed by one of the brothers made 3 cakes for him. The other brother found out about it and was furious. He said he would never be buried with his brother. When they were finally killed, on the same day, cooler heads prevailed and they were buried side by side. The idea was that they were twins, had worked and died together and should not be separated even in the grave.
A few days ago I was visiting some of our works on the upper Juruá River. I spent a week 300 miles upriver, across the border in Peru. Our missionary in Tipisca, Peru is José Maia and family. There are 4 Indian tribes in the region. We are trying to preach the gospel to all 4. So far we have made some good progress among 2 of the tribes – the Ashaninka and the Kaxinauá. One of the first converts among the Kaxinauá is a 20 year-old girl named Damiana.
Here is Damiana’s story. She trusted Christ during one of José Maia’s visits to her village on the Breu River. The Breu is a tributary of the Juruá River and is also the border between Brazil and Peru. She later came to live with our missionaries. Here are a couple of impressive traits of this young woman. Although she is 20 years old, she is still single. Most Indian girls her age are already married and have 10 kids. Then, even more impressive: she speaks Spanish, Portuguese and, of course, Kaxinauá. Damiana is a twin. Her sister’s name is Cosma.
The twins: Damiana and Cosma
That is no mere coincidence, but has its own backdrop. Why would Kaxinauá twins be named Cosma and Damiana? Their dad was a little white boy who had been taken in by the Indians. He grew up in the tribe, but stayed there and married one of the women. Besides Cosma and Damiana, the couple has a bunch of other kids. Some of the boys even have beards! Beyond the racial mix there is also a cultural and religious mix in the tribe.
One such crossover is a popular myth that sprang from the Saint Cosmas and Damian story. Many people along the rivers here believe that if twins are born they must be named either Cosme e Damião (if they are boys) or Cosma and Damiana (in case of girls). Why? If you don’t name them with the saint names one of the twins will drown and thus the twins will be separated. So now 2 Indian girls are named Cosma and Damiana. The latter is now saved and the other is reading her Bible day and night. We are praying that she will trust Christ soon along with all of her tribe.
Damiana’s baptism in Tipisca, Peru
Recently José Maia took her back to the tribe for a visit. He asked her if she would have the courage to translate a very aggressive message to the tribe. She said that she could talk directly to the children and women, but wasn’t sure about the men. José Maia wanted to go ahead and tell them that the only God is Jesus Christ and that the jiboia (boa constrictor) is not god. He started preaching and she stepped up and started translating no matter what the cost. Everyone listened carefully and are still listening. Many of them came out to Tipisca while I was there and were present at Damiana’s baptism service. Pray that all will trust Christ. The door is now wide open to this tribe. Hopefully Cosma will receive Jesus next and the twins will be truly inseparable.
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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [February 2016]
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.
February 4, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Bev and I have visited a few of our congregations and churches in this first month of the new year. We visited Assis, Brasil again. We were with the new congregation at Colônia for the first time ever since they started.
This work is one of those things that happen to Baptists that isn’t really ideal, but has to be. We already have a church at Colônia; however, starting in 2011, the longtime pastor, who is getting up in age, started to treat the church as his own personal piece of property. He sold the corner lot to a bar, for starters. Then he told all the musicians that the church is his and they could only practice and play if he said so. I tried to help them through this, but to no avail. While I was on furlough in 2011 they called me a few times to get my input. At that time 50 members left and became members of one of our other local churches. A few months later they bought property and started a new work a couple of miles down the main street of town. They now have a beautiful big building and are growing leaps and bounds. Bev and I were with them on a Thursday night. There were about 100 present. Their average attendance on Sunday is 150.
The new work at Colônia.
We also visited our congregation at São Pedro. It rained all night and all day before and during our visit. Needless to say, there weren’t many people present. When I started preaching that morning my mind “glitched” on me. It was just a momentary skip, but very disconcerting. I had to ask somebody to take care of the rest of the service. Bev drove us home. The next day the doctor had me put through one of those tunnel machines (don’t know what it is called in English) to scan my brain. No brain was found, so I guess all is normal… for me. She is trying to get me set up with a specialist (neurologist?) to see where to go from here. Physically, I feel fine. For a few days I had been feeling sluggish and low on motivation. The doctor asked me to slow down. Since I am already slow by nature, I guess she wanted me to stop.
Bro. Mike with their new grandson, Brenden, named in honor of the first missionary in Cruzeiro do Sul – Joseph Brandon.
We are getting ready for the first big camp of the year. For the past couple of weeks I have been working on the new driveway and entrance at Camp Salem. There have been a lot of guys from church going up to help me. When the road was being paved they used our entrance a lot and the heavy machinery destroyed the part that we had paved with brick. The camp property is 400 acres 22 miles east of Cruzerio do Sul. This first camp is for youth. Right after this one will be the “tweens”. There will be a couple of camps every month for the rest of the year.
A picture of Bro. Creiglow 50 years ago when he first started seminary in Manaus.
On the 25th Dauro and Crissy had their fourth child. They named him Brendon Michael. Brendon in honor of the first missionary in Cruzeiro do Sul – Joseph Brandon. They settled on Brendon to trick our Brazilian friends into saying Brandon. Otherwise it would come out Brahndon. I don’t know where they came up with the Michael part. We are having fun!
On the 29th the church helped me celebrate my 50th year in the ministry. My surrender was on January 29, 1966.
A picture from Bro. Creiglow’s 50th year in ministry celebration. He writes, “By the way, I decided to dress just like a picture from 50 years ago when I first started seminary in Manaus. Believe it or not I still dress this way quite often. The oxford shirt and faded jeans are still the same size, too.”
My first sermon was 3 days later. We had over 400 present on Friday night. Plenty of great music, cake and soft drinks for all. It was a lot of fun.
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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [January 2016]
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 13, 2016
Dear Brethren,
What? Half way through the first month of a new year already! Closing out the old year was busier than ever. Besides making the rounds taking care of churches and congregations, counseling pastors and missionaries, I helped out with the Musical de Natal (Christmas Musical) at our home church. Fortunately my part is building the stage and props. My daughter Crissy and her team write the script, select the songs and produce the whole thing. There are teams that do advertising, direct traffic and parking, care for the motorcycles and helmets, crowd control, reception, nursery, children, reception, ushers, decisions, counseling, stage hands, refreshments, besides all those who participate directly in the production. We have over 350 people working.
The preparations start out a year in advance. Every year is a new story and all original materials. The last three months are crazy. Then with a month to go we have to alter our services and all activities at church. There are activities going on for 20 hours every day right up to the last dress rehearsal. I put in some 16 hour days along the way.
This year we had one night just for members. Since the whole program is visitors only we have had quite a bit of griping from some members over the years. That night was Saturday, December 19. It rained and yet the building was full. Then we began the official program on Sunday, December 20 and ran it through Christmas night. It ended up being a whole week this time. From Sunday through Friday we did not have any rain at night. It rained almost every day, but not at night. The main building was standing room only every night. We have overflow on the third floor of the annex. We can seat 600 there. It too, was standing room only on Sunday and Christmas.
We can gauge the crowds by counting the number of motorcycles in our parking garage. I’m sure that sounds strange to all of you. Small motorcycles are still the most common kind of personal vehicle in Cruzeiro do Sul. Our previous record had been 122. The first night we had 136. The last night we had 181. Since we can’t really count people in the two venues, we count motorcycles. Cars also line the streets for blocks from the buildings. It was tough to see hundreds of people turning around and going home, because they could not get in. The good news is that 37 people were saved. Some of these are already in discipleship, small groups and have requested baptism.
In January we give folks a break. We only have Sunday night services. That means that five other regular weekly services are put on hold. All the training programs stop. There is still a lot going on, because this is when we do all of our planning and preparation for the year. The two Sunday services of the year have been overflow crowds. Pastor Pedro and I are doing all the preaching this month. The other pastors, all the ministry leaders and teachers are all resting up. We have already had 5 more saved, 3 new members by letter and several requests for baptism.
Please pray for Beverly. She has been diagnosed with diabetes and a couple of other things. Her treatments start today. She is really tough, but right now she is discouraged.
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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [December 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.
December 9, 2015
Dear Brethren,
It has been exactly one month since my last letter, but it has been a short month. We have continued to have good services at First Baptist Church. We have had a few folks saved every week. Last Sunday Pastor Benjamin baptized 8 more. I served the Lord’s Supper. We had one more profession of faith during that service even though we never have an invitation on those days. Just before services a man named Ney came to me to talk. He has attended our church for 20 years, but just got saved Sunday morning and wanted to make his public profession of faith. There were 3 more saved in the evening service.
We finally got all the trusses and purlins on the building at Cruzeirinho. The roofing is going on right now.
Bev and I visited the church at Assis, Brasil a couple of weeks ago. They have a big building, but have purchased new property and are building an even bigger building. They continue to partner with us on several mission projects.
Zico is at Jordão right now. He reports that the new work there is going great. They have been averaging 55 people in Sunday services. Although we had made some trips there over the past 3 years the work was just really started this year when we sent Idevaldo and family to that field. Some have been saved already. Zico will be leaving Jordão for Santa Rosa do Purús this week. We don’t think there is any church of any kind there. I will report on his findings next month. Santa Rosa do Purús is one of the 22 cities of the State of Acre that we plan to start a church. First Baptist has sent missionaries to 7 of the 22 cities so far. We still have a long way to go.
We now have a new missionary to send to Foz do Breu on the Peruvian border. Mário and his wife came before the church for approval 3 weeks ago. That field has been without a missionary for 10 months now. During this time one of the local men has been taking care to hold services, teach and even make a few mission trips.
Our television program just celebrated 25 years. I have had a half hour program on a local station every Saturday and Sunday morning. I don’t know if anyone has been saved. The only real feedback is from folks I run into downtown who say they never miss a program. You and I have bought all the equipment, studio setup. The church here pays for the airtime. We will probably only be able to gauge results in eternity. Hopefully we will be able to keep the program on the air for a few more years.
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
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