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.

August 13, 2013

Dear Brethren,

It has been a while. A lot of water under the bridge, many miles traveled and many bridges crossed, too.

In my last letter I told you about the church approving the purchase of the 18 acres for relocation. The approval was the easy part. Getting them to give the money to buy the property, not so much. So far we have paid $75,000.00 of the $250,000.00. I have worked day and night for weeks on this project, but know that the Lord will have to provide the miracle we need. The church has 2 lots in town and we have 4 lots near the school, which are all up for sale. Bev and I put our old house in town on the market, too. I have been working all the leads with business people. Repeated meetings and many phone calls. The Lord knows and will provide. Keep praying with us. Your prayers are very important.

Native missionaries and their families on Friday, August 2, 2013, the first night of their missions conference.

The only break from the routine of these negotiations was a 12 day motorcycle trip through the Andes of Peru. This trip was something that I have wanted to do for years and had been planned long before we knew that the property would be available. Anyway, the guys at church took over the promotion of the first offerings and did a good job while I was away. Pastor Pedro, one of our businessmen, Hudson and 13 others went along. My long time friend and buddy in crazy adventures, Sherman Smith, executive pastor of Sonrise Baptist Church, Clovis, California, was down for this trip, too. There were 2 pickup trucks full of folks and 9 bikers.

The scenery is breathtaking. The altitude is breathtaking, too! We went over 2 mountain passes at over 16,000 feet! Visits to Machu Pichu, Cusco and Lake Titicaca were all and more than I had hoped for. The trip was 2,600 miles, very dangerous and trying. We even got into a snow storm on one pass. It was eye opening in an unexpected way.

The visit to Peru was a vacation, but a missionary will always see places for what they are: mission frontiers. The jungle regions of Peru (East of the Andes) seem to show evidence of the gospel’s presence. The mountains and high plains of central and southern Peru were a shocking contrast. Going through large cities and many, many medium and small towns, my eyes kept looking for churches. Every town has a Catholic church. During the whole trip I only saw 1 Pentecostal church and 1 Mormon church. The people are still living the same religious and cultural paganism of the last 5 or 6 hundred years. Shocking!

19 new members were baptized during the August 4, 2013 morning service at First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul.

My first Sunday night sermon back at First Baptist Church was from Romans 1:19-23. I showed and mentioned the 3 Inka gods: The Condor, The Puma and The Serpent. We had an overflow crowd. There were 5 professions of faith. I also managed to challenge the church about the need for missionaries to our close neighbor Peru. We already have 2 in the jungle area, but none in the mountains.

We also held our annual missions conference last week. Most of our missionaries were in. The reports were all vibrant and uplifting. On Sunday morning we had baptism and Lord’s supper. 19 new members. Two more saved and 5 more requests for baptism, too. Great conference.

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

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