Visiting Church in Rodrigues Alves 51 Years Later
September 26, 2023
Dear Brethren,
Grace and peace to all from the Creiglow duo. Well my calloused and stained hands are back. One of my friends once said, “If you want to find Mike Creiglow in a crowd just call for a raising of hands.” Besides being back into all the preaching, teaching, meeting and counselling, I have accelerated the construction and repair part of my work. I have felt good and am recovering my strength to some degree. Most days I get back to the house around 7:00PM. I am so grateful to our Lord for being back into my home setting and routine.
A couple of weeks ago we held a baptism and Lord’s supper service. I performed the baptism of 7 new members. We have had folks saved most weekends. There have been folks coming for membership from other Baptist churches both here and other cities. We have had more requests for baptism, including several from other denominations. Our attendance continues to nudge upward. Our Sunday school attendance is now above pre pandemic levels. The evening services are still just shy of where they were before COVID.
Bev and I went to visit our church in the city of Rodrigues Alves. This town of 15 thousand people was just a village of a couple hundred when Dad first held services there in the 60’s. They now have paved streets, two paved roads from Cruzeiro do Sul, banks, stores, schools and many churches. When Dad held services there on our trips up the Juruá River, it would take the better part of a day to get there in our houseboat. When Bev and I started going there weekly in the early 70’s, we could only get there by boat. Bev mentioned the high river back that had to be climbed hauling our baby (Adam) and gear. We slept in a tent, used an outhouse, and took our dip baths by a shallow well. On our recent visit Bev and I left the house at 6:00PM in her little Chevy SUV and an hour later stepped out on a sidewalk and right into the big church building.
It took many years to establish the church there. It has now been 51 years since that small and slow beginning. They were celebrating 30 years of official church status. The building was full. The music was exceptional. The pastors are Edson Lopes and Raimundo. We sent Edson about 20 years ago. Raimundo is much younger and trained by Edson.
Next month Bev and I will be returning to the States for more medical procedures. I will be seeing my dermatologist, my surgeon and my oncologist for routine follow up visits that they required. Also, I have a retina repair surgery and cataract surgery on both eyes (3 separate procedures). We are scheduled to leave home on October 14 and return on December 6. Please continue to pray. Thanks to all who pray and give toward my health expenses.
I have one unusual request to make. Many of the places I have projects out in the bush, I need a portable generator. The local Honda dealer has a 1000W generator for just over $1,500.00. The same thing costs only $1,000.00 in the US, but I can’t bring one from there. The freight and taxes would more than double the price. So if you can help me out, please do!
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
Faithful in Little, Faithful in Much
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Not long ago I was challenged by one of the people at the Chapel. If you are reading this and you are a pastor or a church leader you have probably been challenged to think through this too. And even if you are not a pastor or a church leader you have probably thought through this challenge before also. So, the challenge this Chapel lady gave me went something like this: “This Chapel is all about you. You do everything in the service. Nobody else gets a chance to get involved or to participate in the service. This Chapel is all about you”.
First of all, I was forced to think through her challenge about the Chapel being all about me. Was I hoarding the service and ministry duties because of pride, or because I was the important one, or because nobody could do it better than me? I have had to think about this, not only when she spoke to me but also subsequently to that. And, no, I don’t think that is an issue. One, I am trying to give them an alternative, something different than they would typically receive in a typical Kitale church (that being: 1. Simple, Biblical teaching 2. Reasonable, heart-felt worship 3. A focus on knowing God and following Jesus 4. No health and wealth gospel 5. No “God is my genie” mentality 6. No emotional craziness 7. No…well, you get the point). I am the only one I trust right now to incorporate these elements. Two, there is no one who comes on a regular enough basis to entrust with ministry responsibilities.
I have always had the opinion that ministry responsibilities should be given to those who show faithfulness to a church, its services and its ministries. In other words, if you want to teach Sunday School then you should show yourself faithful to the church services and ministries. If you want to lead the worship and singing, then you should show that you are committed and dedicated to the services and ministries of the church. That is my opinion. The Chapel lady had another opinion. She told me that people were not being faithful because I hadn’t given them responsibilities and opportunities. If effect, her opinion was opposite of mine.
My view – Give ministry opportunities to those who show themselves to be faithful, committed and dedicated
Her view – Give ministry opportunities to the unfaithful, the non-committed and the un-dedicated in order to make them faithful, committed and dedicated
“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much…” –Luke 16:10
I discussed this with her and gave her my position on the matter, explaining why I approached the matter in the way that I did. She obviously disagreed and told me that I should take a risk. After giving the matter some thought I decided to give the experiment a try after all.
So, here is what I did. I asked one man if he would be the one to open up our services. I asked him to read a Bible passage, say a few words and pray in order to open up our weekly Sunday services. I asked another young man who knows how to play the guitar if he would learn a couple of songs and lead the Chapel in singing them. I let him choose some songs and I gave him song sheets with chords so that he could practice them and lead the Chapel to sing those songs on the next Sunday.
The results of my experiment? I am hesitant to share them, but, here they are. The man I asked to open our services came the next Sunday and did exactly what I had asked him to do. After that, he didn’t even show up for our services for three out of the next four Sundays, leaving me wondering if I should wait for him or start things myself. The other young man that I asked to lead some songs came the next Sunday but he hadn’t learned the songs. Then he missed two Sundays and when he returned on the third Sunday still hadn’t learned the songs, meaning I had to have songs ready each week to play, not knowing whether he would be ready or not. He still hasn’t learned the songs.
I don’t know if the results of my experiment are typical. I don’t know if I haven’t let it run long enough. I don’t know if it verifies my original opinion. Should I keep trying it? God knows.
Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta@gmail.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
An Example of Faith & God’s Faithfulness in Trying Times
December 2, 2020
Dear Friends,
You may be experiencing similar circumstances in your area, but I did want to inform you of what is happening here in southern Brazil. A new wave of COVID cases has arrived and several of our members have been infected. Thanks to the Lord, no one has died because of it and most have recovered quite rapidly. Charlene and I have been blessed by not getting it, so far, and we pray that it will stay that way.
Our youth minister went through some tough experiences recently that helped us see that we are truly in a spiritual battle in this world as we seek to serve the Lord in a fallen society. Cledson and his wife, Fabiane, are very dedicated to teaching the youth God’s word and demonstrating its principles in their daily lives. They go the extra mile in showing love and faithfulness to Lord and to the youth under their leadership. There is a young man who had struggles in his home life and they took him into their own home to mentor him, even though he often pushes the limits of their patience. In one three-week time frame, he caused several accidental damages, though his carelessness was the main factor. They already live on a very tight budget and these damages were sorely stretching them. Last week, Cledson and Fabiane were pushed near to the end of their faith. Cledson makes his living as an Uber driver and this young man, without Cledson’s permission, took his car keys, started the engine and accidently popped the transmission into reverse while the car was parked next to the church’s brick wall. The car rammed backward, crushing the rear of the car and crashing through the wall. All together, the cost was more than 3 months of Cledson’s earnings, plus he would have to put his car in the shop for 3 weeks without further income from Uber services. He and his wife broke down crying. They know that “all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord…”, but on the emotional level they were nearly spent. They dried their tears and went before the youth to teach them that God is still in control and that they are trusting in Him.
They had no idea how they were going to pay for their daily needs, much less the repairs to the car and the church property. But the Lord amazingly showed His gracious mercy and love. The church members, though none are wealthy, pitched in together to cover their expenses for the month and the Lord answered a several months’ old prayer request of Cledson and his wife by having a company call him to work where he won’t even need his car. In the midst of their trial, the Lord showed Himself strong and attentive to their needs. They were super encouraged by the apparent turn in events and were strengthened in their faith. Also, the youth under their leadership learned a tremendous lesson on how to live out their faith in a very real and practical way through the example of their leaders. I am very grateful to God for the strong leaders that He has placed over our youth and I trust that we will have a new generation of faithful servants as a result of their teaching and example.
Another couple of amazing volunteers are Emmanuel and Maria. They are both retired from their secular jobs. As they contemplated retirement and what they believed the Lord wanted them to do with their lives, they felt led to be a part of our gospel outreach team. Emmanuel and Maria are just the kind of people that I want to always be and hope to teach and inspire the people under my leadership to be – selfless! As I write, they are together with our outreach team on a trip to a town in the interior of our state where they will share the love of Christ in public squares and parks. They’ll be sleeping on very thin pads and traveling in a crowded van, but they do this joyfully because of their love for the Lord. I am so thankful for them!
I mentioned in my last correspondence that I got an invitation to preach the gospel in English in a neighboring state. Well, that opportunity led to a re-invitation. Charlene and will be returning there in a couple of weeks and we pray that the Lord will use us to get the gospel out to the listeners present and online and that we will be an encouragement to the team who invited us.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support so that we may continue to be useful in the Lord’s service.
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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
Teenage Girls Surrender to Christ
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
April 2, 2020
Dear Friends,
Fortunately, Charlene and I are doing well. As in most of the nations of the world, Brazil is also going through tremendous turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but no one from our works has been infected, so far.
Just before our schools were closed because of the virus, our evangelism team was ministering in a small town in the interior of our state. There were over 1200 students in the schools that participated in our evangelistic presentations. Of those who attended, 23 made public professions of faith in Christ and another 15 rededicated their lives to the Lord.
After one of our gospel skit presentations, a teen girl talked with one of the volunteers, telling her that she was seeing a psychologist because of depression and thoughts of suicide. The volunteer evangelist shared God’s word with the girl and she surrendered to Christ. Later that night, at a presentation in the town square, the girl and her mother came to talk with the same volunteer about how God had replaced her depression with joy. That same afternoon she had gone to her psychologist’s appointment and, there, she had shared with him how thrilled she was knowing that God loves her and had forgiven her of her sins. She said that even the psychologist got all choked up with the transformation that he saw in her.
On Saturday afternoons our team offers community services such as haircuts, blood pressure checks and family counseling. During these activities, a different teenage girl listened as the worker shared the gospel. She asked to speak privately about what was going on in her life. Both of her parents had died and she and her siblings were living in a children’s home. There, she had to take care of her younger sister and her niece because her older sister was involved in drugs. Although she had heard of Christ before, she had never come to know Him personally. She said that she felt abandoned in this world. The volunteer who was counseling her had a very similar life story and was able to share with her how true God is to receive those who humbly come to Him in faith and surrender. The teen girl did that and confessed that Christ was her Savior and Lord.
Now, with the Coronavirus pandemic disrupting all areas of activities and events, we are having to find creative ways to reach out to people and minister. I have never been too fond of tech stuff, nor appearing before a recording camera, but I am having to get out of my comfort zone and learn how to share the love of Christ through social media. As a pastor, I am also learning how to shepherd my own members through phone calls and social media. Since I am a “hugs and touches” person, this isn’t ideal for me, but I can also see the Lord doing some amazing things through these quarantine measures that wouldn’t have seemed possible just a few weeks ago. The people seem to be much more aware of their mortality and emotional frailty. We are so thankful that we have God’s word to guide us during these times of human uncertainty. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we do know Who holds tomorrow and we are resting in Him.
We have received several alerts from the American Embassy here in Brazil advising us to either get out of the country now or expect that the window of return will be closed for an indefinite period. Charlene and I were expecting to return to the U.S. later this year to give a report to supporting churches and also get to see our kids and grandson. We do not feel, though, that now is the right time to go, so that visit may be put on hold for a little longer than what we expected. We know that God has all this under control and that He will take care of us and those we love. We will seek to be faithful while we wait for His good timing.
We greatly appreciate your faithful prayers and faithful support.
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[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
