First Baptism of Two Ladies from the Deaf Ministry
November 20, 2023
Hey! Still not home, but maybe in a couple more weeks, by God’s grace and mercy. In the meantime, here is a little news. The pics are of Tatiana with the 2 ladies who were baptized yesterday and the team along with several of the deaf folks who attend our services. If you look really hard you will see my grandson, Alec, who is part of this ministry. My daughter Crissy also participates as well as her daughter Kayla.
The video clip is of Pastor Wilem in action. It is awesome, to say the least.
I have also included a photo of Dad and me. I visited him again yesterday and gave him a haircut. He recalled cutting my hair with those old handheld clippers and ripping out more hair than was actually clipped! His mind is sharp as ever.
Thanks to all and God bless.
Mike C
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
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.
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Answered Prayer after 30+ Years!
April 21, 2023
I am writing this from Lexington, Kentucky. Mike and I are here taking care of some health issues. Our beautiful daughter, Monica, has been gracious to put up with us!
Some thirty years ago I started praying that God would open a door for us to be able to reach the deaf in our town. At the same time, I started nudging Mike. Finally, after all those years of praying and seeking years it has happened! I believe our church is the only one with this ministry in the state of Acre. There are 23 people who have finished the three courses (one year each). These courses were made possible through one of the women in our church who felt called to implant this new ministry. Tatyana had been the nursery leader for years. She trained another lady and team to take her place. Now a signing course for children has started. My granddaughter, Kayla, ten years old, is one of the students. Since we began last November, there have been at least six deaf people who have made a profession of faith. There are times when they “sing” along with the congregation. I found out recently that sign language in Brazil is different from in the US.
A couple of weeks before I came to the States a group of ladies from the women’s ministry asked to meet with me just to talk. They were curious about how I came to Cruzeiro do Sul. They wanted some input about raising children, being a missionary and pastor’s wife, among other things. I hope I was able to be of help. This is one of the many ways I get to participate and help out in the work here.
Not many people outside our church know this, but I am known at our church for giving the best hugs! Hugs are one of my favorite things. There is a group of children that come for a hug almost every service.
I arrived in the US just over two weeks ago. From what we have been hearing from many of the members of First Baptist things are going very well and souls continue to be saved.
Mike and I have no idea of how long his treatment will take, but we are anxious to get back home. I miss my church and kids/grandkids.
Love,
Beverly
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
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.
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God’s Kingdom Bursting Along the Breu River
March 23, 2023
Dear Brethren,
Well I have now been here in the States for two months. It looks like I will be here for a while. I have been through many visits to the doctors, many tests and two surgeries. The recovery will be long and even once that is finished I still will have 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments. It could be another three months, so please continue to pray. So far the expenses have been low and some friends and family have been helping out. I am so thankful that Baptist Faith Missions has provided such good health coverage.
Here is some really good news, at least for me. The church down home has paid for Bev’s tickets to come and be with me for the coming months. She will be leaving Cruzeiro do Sul in a couple of weeks. The news from my doctors has all been pretty good. News that Beverly will be here with me is very, very good news.
Things are going well in the work. Attendance has been growing over the last weeks. We are now consistently over 600 in both morning and evening services. We had been just over 500 each in January. February was better. Now in March almost every service has been 600+. Last Sunday 2 more were saved including another young lady from our deaf folks.
Two weeks ago, our deaf ministry started having discipleship classes. We have 4 basic training courses for all new converts. These are now being ministered to our new deaf members.
Last Sunday 2 newborns were presented to the church. We also found out that 6 more couples are expecting. Over the past weeks 3 couples have done “reveals” out at our house and property. This is an honor for Bev and me. Shame I am not there to participate.
As a reminder, our church has a team of 7 pastors. I am the senior pastor. While I am away the others pick up my slack. Pastor Ezi Lopes went to visit our congregation on the Breu River. This river runs along the border between Peru and Brazil. He baptized 22 new members at the Hunikuim tribe.
We sent a missionary there several years ago. José Maia was forced to leave by a federal judge. That is when one of the young girls, Damiana, went to live with Maias in Tipisca, Peru. She got saved and she was the first person that I baptized in Tipisca in 2017. She later returned to the tribe and was used to reach them with the gospel. A couple of years ago I baptized the first 9 converts there. Among them was Cosma, Damiana’s twin sister. One of the young men who was baptized is now their pastor. Aldenir is his name.
When Christ’s kingdom bursts out no one can stop it. The judge kicked out our missionary. One girl left with him. She got saved and went back to her people. Many others got saved. God called one of the young men to shepherd them. I baptized some, but am not there to care for them. Ezi went and baptized another large group. I didn’t tell him to go. One of the videos I saw of the baptism service showed the congregation singing “I have decided to follow Jesus” in the Hunikuim language as they made their way to the river. Who taught them that? Where did that come from? How can that be? It’s not me. It’s not José Maia. It’s not Ezi Lopes. You know who it is! To God be the glory.
Thanks for all your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Pastor Ezi baptizes a man in the Breu River 
Baptism of 22 new members at the Hunikuim tribe
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
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
God at Work in New Ministry to Deaf Community
January 31, 2023
Dear Brethren,
Greetings from frigid Lexington, Kentucky (26 degrees). Yes, I am in the States and will tell you why a little later. For now though, some nice warm news from down home.
Our Christmas musical was back almost to pre-Covid levels. We averaged over 1,000 in attendance. The last night we had 1,217. There were at least 9 people saved the first 4 nights, but do not know how many after that. This was the first time that we were able to serve the deaf community. That is the next big news of the past few weeks.
Tatiana was saved as a girl right here at First Baptist Church. She married one of our young men and has 2 great kids. She served for several years as our nursery leader. She is very efficient and made that ministry what it is today – great. Just over 3 years ago, she came to me and said that she had already trained another team to take over her ministry. Then she said she was called to start a ministry for the deaf. That was music to my ears. She recruited some 20 people to start training. It was a 3-year program at 3 levels. We made sure she had all the support and resources she needed. I was with them for each graduation ceremony along the way and a few other occasions.
On the last Sunday of November, we had the first official service, which was geared to the deaf community and to get the church fully on board. There were over 15 deaf present. In the following weeks they have been back in almost every service and a few more continue to show up. Andriu was the first to be saved. Since then, 5 more have made professions of faith. In my last time in the pulpit this month one more young mother was saved. Bev and I had prayed for over 30 years that God would raise somebody up that would take this challenge. Our prayers have been answered.
The latest one to trust Christ (middle) and Tatiana (right), the ministry leader and one God used to get all this rolling. 
The deaf ministry team
I have 2 things that I really need you to pray about. The first thing will be couched in somewhat veiled language because this newsletter will be on the internet and I must choose my words wisely. Pray for the country that I serve in. It has taken a sharp turn to the left. On the last Sunday before the general election, I took 15 minutes to implore people to not stay home or abstain, but get out and vote. No party name or candidate name was mentioned. On a Friday night, just before the big day, our church was gathered in prayer in groups throughout the 2 buildings. We had been praying every morning from 5:00 AM, too. That night I was pulled from my group and handed a 3-page threat from a federal prosecutor. If I continued to “campaign” I could be jailed and fined. In the document I was directly forbidden to teach or preach about God or family. The incident was all over the news across the state before the night was even over. A few days ago, I learned that it was also reported in the third largest newspaper (also oldest) in the country. That is down south. In the largest city in the country. If it got that far it may be somewhere in the workings of the people who run the country. I pray that it is over and forgotten, but I don’t know, so please pray for me and the work of His kingdom down there. We really need you to pray for the land and people that I love so dearly. We are in deep trouble and desperate times like I have never seen in these 62 years that I have lived and served there.
Also pray for me as I have some health issues that I could not get taken care of down home. Although I did many tests as required by my doctors and gave them all the results, they did not act upon them and did not even respond to my contacts. Beverly, the family, the church, and the pastors told me to get moving. Four days later I was in the States. Just to not leave you too in the dark, the matter concerns my ongoing fuss with skin cancer. Two recent surgeries and biopsies showed positive for squamous cell and melanoma. The doctors here are acting quickly. They have seen all my testing from down there. I have also had another CT scan here. Last week I was seen by 3 different doctors. There are to be 2 more surgeries. One is scheduled for March 6 and waiting for the date of the other one. Hopefully this is not more info than you need or want to know. Just really need your prayers.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
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
Mothers Day, Music Classes, and More!
Odali and Kathy Barros served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together from 1987-2013. In late 2013, they transitioned to Manaus in Northern Brazil to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
May 15, 2018
Dear brothers and sisters,
It has been such a wonderful month to see how God has worked! God has blessed us tremendously and the works are doing really great.
This month is Mother’s Day, so we’ve had several special days at our mission point. We take advantage of these days to encourage the children to bring their parents. Then we will have a special service with the children singing where we also present the gospel.
At the church of Iranduba we will be starting some new things. On Wednesday and Saturday, we will be going out into the community and homes to have services and special programs for different ages. We have also started keyboard and guitar classes that are going great.
The work at Ubim is going well. We will be having the inauguration of the church building real soon. Last Monday on the way there our car that is used broke down, so they did not make it there. So, they called the lady where we have the service with the kids to let them know they were not coming. The kids started crying! How wonderful it is to know that these kids love to be at the meeting! So please pray that God will help us get a car that we can depend on.
I had the privilege to preach and a village down the river. It was a thanksgiving service. Just wonderful.
Venezuela has sent all foreign missionaries away, and many of the Venezuelans have left their country. We are helping 3 families. They are Baptist. One is a seminary graduate.
The camp ministry we have started working with is doing great. We have been able to get machines working and things fixed along with other improvements. When we started our ministry back when we got married, we worked with the deaf ministry. Well, we got in touch with one of the girls that worked with us back then and asked about having a camp for the deaf. She loved the idea. Pray for this!
Kathy is in the US for the arrival of our grandson. Since he is not in a hurry to come, Kathy is visiting her father.
We appreciate your prayers and your support! May God continue to bless each of you.
Odali & Kathy Barros
Caixa Postal 1
Iranduba, Amazonas 69.415.000
Brasil, S.A.
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
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
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God is Moving in Açutuba
Odali and Kathy Barros served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together from 1987-2013. In late 2013, they transitioned to Manaus in Northern Brazil to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
March 31, 2018
Dear friends and supporters,
What a month of seeing God work in many ways! He is our strength in time of sorrow and our strength in time of much work. Thanks for your prayers for my wife and her family in the passing of her mother Alta.
So much going on and God at work in the ministry.
The building in the community of Ubim is coming along. The children are so excited about the building. The other day Kathy and I went to see the construction and while we were there, the kids were singing, “Our church is almost ready!” Very exciting!
The Açutuba Community
The Ubim Building
We have services in another community called Açutuba. We have been going there for about a year now. When we started, several people from the church were going. As time went on, most every one stopped. Last week, the lady where we have the service called and asked if we could go to a lady’s house that was having trouble with rearing things. So we went. There were 10 visitors at the house where we went. I showed them that our spiritual house could not be empty, how to receive Christ as Savior. The service was great but the result has been wonderful. The lady called and asked if this week she could bring 20 visitors, because all her children and their kids want to come. Well, we had 40 people there! What a service. Pray for them, they are all catholics. As we were there, the lady said, “Oh, my son has a piece of land he separated to give to some church.” Well who knows that might be for our ministry.
When Kathy and I started our ministry right after we were married we worked with the deaf and planned on building a camp to work with them. We started and then God sent us to other places. Well now we are back to where we started in Manaus, and 3 weeks ago, the camp that we left with Tabernacle Church was turned over to us to care for and direct. We are excited! We are praying that God will direct us each day in how to use the place more and more for the ministry. Thanks for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Odali & Kathy
Odali & Kathy Barros
Caixa Postal 1
Iranduba, Amazonas 69.415.000
Brasil, S.A.
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
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
Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [February 2015]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil since 1974. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
February 05, 2015
Dear Friends and Co-laborers,
We greet each of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are thankful for God’s goodness and grace each new day. Praise God the Father for providing unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Year has come. The days pass us by, but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ remains the same. We are fully blessed by Him. How we are grateful for all His mercies and marvelous Grace. Our prayer is that each new day we will reflect more and more of His Love in us.
Our special thanks go to the Park Ridge Baptist Church and Pastor Ben Glover for hosting a great Winter Missions Conference in sunny Florida. The fellowship with pastors, fellow missionaries and dear brothers in Christ was refreshing. The messages encouraged God’s people to serve out of a heart of faith and love. There were many testimonies of God working and saving people in various fields though the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks to the members of Park Ridge Baptist Church for all the hard work, wonderful meals and loving care for those attending.
The day after the conference, I left for Brazil. Thanks to all who prayed for my trip.
The first Sunday, we celebrated and organized Igreja Batista Nova Vida (New Life Baptist Church) in Manaus in the subdivision of Novo Aleixo. This mission started as bible studies and prayer groups in homes. The body organized with 65 charter members, of whom 12 were baptized that same night, and called Pastor Gustavo.
Saturday night, the deaf ministry had a special service. This service is led by deaf for the deaf. They had a great service with 168 deaf attending. The Gospel was preached in sign language; and as the invitation was given, eight deaf persons accepted Jesus as Saviour. Four of them were baptized the following Sunday.
During the week, most of the time was invested in paper work to meet government requirements. Pray for the gospel to continue to have free access in Brazil. Pray, intercede, and give thanks for all men, for leaders, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
We pray for you that your remembrance and knowledge of our Lord, the only true God, may abundantly increase in wisdom and discernment, that your trust and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ may be steadfast always, and that the love of his Holy Spirit may fill and overflow in your every word and action, with thanksgiving to God though Jesus Christ our only Lord and Life.
Love,
Paul and Wanda
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
rphatcher[at]gmail.com
15905 Mercott Court
Clermont, FL 34714
(239)227-6551
Click here to give.
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