VMP: Bobby D. Creiglow
Bobby and Betty Creiglow served in partnership with BFM from May 1960 to May 1993. Bobby also served as Stateside Field Representative for BFM from 1998-2003.
Here is Bobby’s missionary service testimony: “We began our missionary service in Faith Baptist Church, Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil. This was our home base from 1961-1973. There were five other Baptist Churches in villages scattered up and down the various rivers, and only two had pastors. My service included visiting these churches on a regular basis holding evangelistic meetings, and many times conducting VBS. During the same time period, I was the founder of two new churches, along with another that was started, but not formally organized until some time after I left the area. I visited there several years later and preached to a thriving Church.
Here are some of the churches we either established or nurtured during our 33 years of missionary service:
STATE OF ACRE [Served among these churches already established before I arrived…]
- Faith of Cruzeiro do Sul
- Faith of Moura Piranga
- Faith of Japaim
- Faith of Barao
- Faith of Parana dos Mouras
- Faith of Campo de Santana
I established these two churches during my first term:
- Faith of Humaita (1962)
- Faith of Colonia de Japaim (1963)
CUIABA/VARZEA GRANDE – STATE OF MATO GROSSO
In 1974, I moved from Acre to Cuiaba, Mato Grosso to build a building and a congregation for fellow BFM Missionary Richard Turner, while he was on his first furlough. When he returned from furlough in 1975, I turned a congregation of thirty members over to him. I continued working with him on the building that was finished one year later. He organized that congregation into the Boa Esperanca Baptist Church in 1978.
In late 1976 or early 1977 I moved just across the river from Cuiaba to the city of Varzea Grande, where after a reasonable search, I found there was no Baptist Church, in the city of 40,000 people, where I set up shop once again. A church building was built for the new church that was organized in October 1978. I served as pastor of the church until 1983, at which time the congregation numbered around 130, and was turned over to a Brazilian Pastor. Two boys, one three years old, and his brother, seven years old, that were in Betty’s first Sunday School class, were years later called to preach and organized a daughter-church from the one I had organized.
NOVO DIAMANTINA
Upon an invitation buy a lady saved in the Boa Esperanca Baptist Church who had moved 130 miles miles away to a city called Diamantina, I agreed to start a church in an area on top of the mountain from the city. I started this work by building the church house before ever having a preaching service. In fact, the first service was the inauguration of the new building. One year later, the Novo Diamantina Baptist Church was organized with 20+ members.
Bobby will be 97 years old on 25 July. He is under constant medical monitoring and treatments. As he recently told one of his converts from years ago in an email exchange, “I’m living every day now between the doctors and Heaven.” He has been housebound for the past year, too weak to be out and about except to be taken to his numerous doctors’ appointments. Also, after suffering a fall in his home late last year, he was hospitalized, and it was discovered that he was acutely anemic. He received the first of what would be several subsequent blood transfusions to replenish his body’s blood supply. He was referred to a hematologist and was subsequently diagnosed with failure of his bone marrow to replenish his red blood cells. After other treatments were tried to rebuild and maintain his blood counts, his hematologist prescribed him to receive an injection that acts as a ‘booster’ to his bone marrow and his blood’s ability to carry oxygen to his body. He receives these injections weekly.
He is greatly encouraged also by numerous contacts that have been re-established over the recent years with friends, former church associates, and converts in Brazil who have ‘re-discovered’ and re-connected with him through Facebook. Some of these converts and former associates in the churches he ministered in go back forty or more years ago. He is overjoyed to correspond with them again and hear them tell their stories of how they are continuing to serve the Lord largely to the credit of his ministry and influence on their lives. One of them in particular has gone from Brazil to Mozambique, Africa to serve the Lord there. It fills his heart and these later years of his life with much gladness. As he said during a recent visit, “God is so good!” Please continue to pray that God will strengthen and encourage him as he remains faithful to Christ to the end – that he will finish well.
Pray for him! Reach out to him through every means you can (call, write, e-mail), and let him know you still appreciate him and his service. He would love to hear from you personally, or from your Sunday School class, or your church leadership.
BOBBY D. CREIGLOW [Betty is with the Lord]
279 Mockingbird Ln | Lexington KY 40503
859-278-1932 / home phone
606-425-1424 / cell phone
bobcreig26@twc.com
When you designate your offerings for ‘Veteran Missionaries Pension’ or for ‘Founder’s Month Offering’ [they are the same], they will be applied toward the continuing and on-going financial honor and support of these faithful life-long servants of Christ.
Click here to give now or you can mail your offering to:
BFM, c/o George Sledd
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
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MEET YOUR “VETERAN MISSIONARIES PENSIONERS” BENEFICIARIES OF YOUR “FOUNDERS DAY OFFERINGS”
We are frequently asked: “What are you doing to continue giving our Veteran Missionaries assistance, especially financial assistance, in their golden years? How do you assist them? Through what means do you assist them? How can I help assist them?”
The short answer to that question for those who served long enough to vest into our traditional retirement/pension plan is: “We continue to honor and assist them by giving them a monthly ‘service pension’ for the remainder of their lives – and for which spouse may outlive the other.”
This is just a small way we can honor them and show our love and appreciation to them for the years of service they gave to Christ in partnership with BFM.
Many of you have known our Veteran Missionary Pensioners for decades. You have not only known them, but you have loved them, fellowshipped with them, served with them, hosted them in your churches and in your homes, and have contributed to their missionary support.
We still have six current Veteran Missionary Pensioners to whom we are giving this honor:
- Louie Carver (Mary is with the Lord)
- Bobby Creiglow (Betty is with the Lord)
- Harold and Ursula Draper
- John A. Hatcher (Alta is with the Lord)
- Paul and Wanda Hatcher
- Wanda Turner (Richard is with the Lord)
[Click on their names to learn more about their missionary service and where they are now.]
The “Veteran Missionary Pensioner” account is not funded through the regular monthly offerings given to BFM, but rather through another account that is established for that purpose.
Would you like to help us with this expression of our love for them? When you designate your offerings for ‘’Veteran Missionaries Pension’ or for ‘Founder’s Month Offering’ [they are the same], they will be applied toward the continuing and on-going financial honor and support of these faithful life-long servants of Christ.
Your missionaries and their families have served and sacrificed greatly on your behalf during their productive years. Please make a small financial sacrifice for your missionaries in their senior years by giving to the Founders Day Fund.
And, there’s MORE you can do to encourage them! Pray for them! Reach out to them through every means you can (call, write, e-mail), and let them know you still appreciate them and their service. They would love to hear from you personally, or from your Sunday School class, or your church leadership.
Thank you for sharing with them!
Click here to give now or you can mail your offering to:
BFM, c/o George Sledd
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
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News & Reports – June 2019 Issue [Online Edition]
The Online Edition of June 2019 BFM News & Reports is available at the link below. Read how God is working through the lives of our faithful missionaries and continue to pray for them.
Click here to read the BFM News & Reports – June 2019 edition!
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Founders Day Offering 2018
JUNE IS THE PRIMARY GIVING MONTH FOR OUR FOUNDER’S DAY OFFERING
Our current BFM Veteran Missionary Pensioners represent the first generation of our faithful missionaries.
[There is a second generation who are still serving and will also be transitioning to pension support status in coming years. We want to make advance preparations to care for them also.]
These who receive continuing benefits from our original traditional defined pension arrangements depend upon this commitment we have made to them.
None of their pensions are large, but we have committed to them that we will give back to them and provide for them as generously as we can for the remainder of their years here.
What we have committed to them reflects at least an expression of our appreciation and gratitude to them for giving many years of their lives – in many cases, all of the years of their adult lives – in service to Jesus Christ in partnership with BFM.
Paul teaches us in Romans 15.27, “For if the Gentiles [nations] have been partakers of their spiritual things, their [our] duty is also to minister to them in material things.” And again, in Galatians 6.6, “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.”
The financial commitments we have made to them are not supplied from our current contributions.
Rather, they are supplied from an investment account we established years ago to provide for these continuing expressions of our gratitude and appreciation for their many years of service to Christ and the peoples of the nations where they served.
We call this investment account our Veteran Missionary Pension Account.
It is extremely important that we maintain and replenish the capital base in this account so their monthly pension benefits can be supplied by the interest and dividends on those deposits.
All of your Founder’s Day Offering contributions will be deposited into the Veteran Missionary Pension Account that supplies their pensions month by month.
Please PRIORITIZE and COMMIT to give as generously as you can for the support of our veteran/retired missionaries.
Contribute to the 2018 Founder’s Day Offering!
“Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy power to everyone that is to come.” Psalm 71:18
Contributions may be mailed to:
Baptist Faith Missions
George Sledd, Treasurer
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
Contributions may also be made online by going to www.baptistfaithmissions.org and selecting the tab labeled ‘Donate / Support’ or by clicking here.
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Why I Support the Baptist Faith Missions Founders Day Fund
The Directors of Baptist Faith Missions spend a great amount of time and prayer toward meeting the needs of your missionaries. Our thoughts and actions are directed not in just meeting today’s missionary needs, but looking forward five, ten, and twenty years from now. We are committed to the present and future financial solvency of Baptist Faith Missions as well as its ability to fulfill our existing commitments to garner future growth.
Beginning in 2017, all funds received in the Founder’s Day Offering will be directed toward current and future missionary retirement support. An immediate strategic challenge we face is meeting promised obligations of our retired missionaries and their widows.
To that end, BFM Directors are recommending a pay-as-you go retirement program instead of funding retirement obligations due fifteen to thirty years from now. Currently, our missionaries are not vested in our traditional retirement program until having served at least fifteen years, with a sliding scale to full retirement being received after serving thirty years and reaching sixty-five years of age.
BFM Directors are not recommending changes for missionaries near or in retirement. Rather, BFM policies are changing by requiring all new missionaries establish a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) in their first year as a missionary.
This change offers substantial opportunity for the new and existing younger missionary.
- First, the new missionary begins receiving tangible retirement funds under his control starting the first year of missionary service. It is important to remember taxes will be prepaid only on the investment amount, not on interest and compounding returns.
- Second, with investment and compounding over twenty-five or thirty years, the missionary should have a minimum retirement fund of several hundred thousand dollars that can be withdrawn tax-free with the balance upon death passed on to his dependents.
- Third, should Baptist Faith Missions become insolvent or dissolved for any reason, these retirement funds are linked to the individual missionary, not Baptist Faith Missions.
- Fourth, existing missionaries who choose this proposal will be given an additional salary bonus for each year of previous service to date to be placed in their Roth Individual Retirement Account. This salary bonus will be spread out over future service years based on the maximum amount each individual can contribute to a Roth IRA.
It has been said that a missionary never retires in heart and spirit, but the years may take a toll on the body and mind forcing a change in life. This is reflected in the life of John and Alta Hatcher who have served our Lord in Brazil over 60 years. They are directly and indirectly instrumental in tens of thousands coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, planting dozens of churches, and raising a family driven to serve the Lord. Their missionary heart and spirit continues in their children and grandchildren. “Well done, thou good and faithful servant! …” Matthew 24:21
Retirement for a missionary can be an emotional and spiritual struggle. While actively serving on the field, the missionary is often busy fulfilling speaking engagements, counseling, directing projects, advising local pastors, teaching classes, etc. Once retirement is necessary, the missionary and his wife are often shown benign neglect. Coming home from the mission field to their supporting church, the missionary and his wife are often surrounded by a younger generation who may consider them too old to be useful. This can make their transition much more difficult.
Missionaries are so focused on their everyday responsibilities their future physical and financial security becomes of lesser importance. Many are not able to claim Social Security benefits because of not having worked and paid into it in the traditional sense. They have put their future in the Lord’s hands. Baptist Faith Missions, by your contributions, has made a commitment to provide a defined benefit (pension) or a defined contribution (Roth IRA) retirement program to your missionary.
The following is a list of our missionaries who have retired or who have returned to the States for health or family issues or to transition to Stateside-based ministry. Pray for them. Reach out to them through every means you can (call, write, e-mail), and let them know you still appreciate them and their service. They would love to hear from you personally, or from your Sunday School class, or your church leadership.
- Mike and Pam Anderson (Kenya)
- Dana and Becky Adams (Philippines)
- Harold Bratcher (Brazil)
- Louie and Mary Carver (Korea / Philippines)
- Bobby Creiglow (Brazil)
- Harold and Ursula Draper (Brazil)
- John and Alta Hatcher (Brazil)
- Paul and Wanda Hatcher (Brazil)
- Deloris Lauerman (Walter, deceased / Peru, Honduras)
- Sheridan and Anita Stanton (Peru)
- Wanda Turner (Richard, deceased / Brazil)
- Bobby and Charlene Wacaser (Brazil)
Your missionaries and their families have served and sacrificed greatly on your behalf during their productive years. Please make a small financial sacrifice for your missionaries in their senior years by giving to the Founders Day Fund.
Contributions may be mailed to:
Baptist Faith Missions
George Sledd, Treasurer
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
Contributions may also be made online by going to www.baptistfaithmissions.org and selecting the tab labeled ‘Donate / Support’ or by clicking here.
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Founder’s Day Offering 2015
For many years, we have remembered and honored our principal founders, Hafford Overbey and Z. E. Clark, by giving special offerings for the missionaries during the month of June. We call it our FOUNDER’S DAY OFFERING.
But, the Founder’s Day Offering not only memorializes our original founders in 1942 – we are also honoring our ten faithful missionary families who are currently serving the Lord in Brazil, France, and Kenya.
Their support needs are great – and the supplies are low. We use the Founder’s Day Offering to help supply our missionaries’ monthly essential living and ministry support. And, these offerings will also help prevent our having to reduce the monthly commitments we have made to them due to a lack of General Fund supplies.
Here’s what each of us can do:
PASTORS – we encourage you to observe a special Missions or Great Commission Emphasis Sunday and give your church the opportunity to give to the BFM General Fund. Emphasize Jesus’ command to preach His Gospel to all nations. That is what our missionaries are doing. That is the original burden and vision that inspired the founding of BFM. We are continuing to perpetuate that vision and burden. That is what we are supporting when we give to BFM’s General Fund. We will use these offerings to continue to supply our missionaries’ on-going needs.
GIVING FRIENDS – if your church is not participating in our Founder’s Day Offering, we encourage you to support your missionaries by giving a personal offering. You can visit our Donate/Support page to easily contribute through the options we have made available to you.
Of course, you can give as the Lord enables you to give, and no offering of any amount is insignificant. But what if every one of our missionaries’ Giving Friends gave at least a $70 offering in honor of the 70+ years our missionaries have been faithfully preaching the Gospel? But – please do give as the Lord impresses and enables you.
Here are a couple of PDFs that might be helpful as you promote Founder’s Day:
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – Bulletin Insert
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – General Letter
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – Letter from Our President
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – Flyer: Where Your Contributions Go
The image below is ideal for a PowerPoint slide. To save the image, right click and click “Save Image As.” (You can also left-click the image for a larger version and then right-click > Save Image As.)
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FaithWORKS Report [July 2014]
PRAY AND PRAISE in this issue…
- MIKE AND BEV CREIGLOW— PRAISE GOD for time to train in Pé da Terra. PRAISE GOD for the 32 baptisms at First Baptist Cruizeiro do Sul last month! PRAY for the 7 chapels around town—especially the new one that is about to open. PRAISE GOD for a great missions conference and new missionaries being sent out! PRAISE GOD for the organization of a new church!
- JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for the opportunity to visit faithful prayer supporters and giving friends in Florida. PRAY for their continued health and strength. PRAISE GOD for time with family and opportunities to witness.
- JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for reconnecting with some people and making new friends at their annual neighborhood dinner. PRAY for their new English Club ministry they will be starting within the next year. PRAY for Philip, Amanda, and their family, and also Wendy who all serve in France with them.
- PAUL AND WANDA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for evangelistic opportunities in Manaus during the World Cup. PRAY for those who professed faith in Christ, that they may grow in the Lord and be steadfast. PRAISE GOD for improving Pastor Adolfo’s eye problems. PRAISE GOD for visits with family and friends.
- AJ AND BARBARA HENSLEY—PRAISE GOD for fruit from the group dedicated to evangelism! PRAY for these new believers and for their church members as they learn to be disciplers. PRAISE GOD for the youth who served at the orphanage and lives that were changed. PRAY for the inmates and the visitors that are planning to minister to them this month.
- NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD—PRAISE GOD for a safe return to Kenya. PRAY for them as they wait to hear a response on Carrie’s permit so she can continue the hospital ministry. PRAY also for their church planting plans and the prison ministry.
- SHERIDAN AND ANITA STANTON—PRAISE GOD for continued progress on the new building for the Calvary Baptist Mission-Church! PRAISE GOD for 40 years of marriage, a memorable trip, and a visit from the Griffins! PRAY for those Sheridan continues to counsel and the pastors in the Monday night Bible class.
- ROGER AND JULIE TATE—PRAISE GOD for the promise that “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” PRAY for Bro. Roger as he seeks to be a more wholly surrendered servant. PRAY that God would do an even greater work in his heart—and in your own!
- BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER—PRAISE GOD for opportunities to share Christ at World Cup venues and PRAY for the seeds that were planted! PRAISE GOD for the team from Arizona who ministered to the homeless. PRAISE GOD for the third anniversary of their church.
LABOR DAY MISSION CONFERENCE
AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 1
EAST KEYS BAPTIST CHURCH
2150 East Keys Avenue, Springfield, IL
[Directions]
Pastor Dan Hillard
(dhillard51[at]yahoo.com)
(309-265-2974)
Everyone is invited to attend the Mission Conference Labor Day Weekend
at East Keys Baptist Church on behalf of Baptist Faith Missions.
An offering will be received during the meeting to help with the general expenses and missionary support.
We recommend Howard Johnson Motel,
1701 J. David Jones Parkway, Springfield, IL 62702 (217) 541-8762.
Tell them you are with East Keys Baptist Church to receive a discount for your room.
SUNDAY
10:00 a.m. – Brother Bob Jones, Evangelist
11:00 a.m. – Brother Joe Head,
Pastor, Winton Place Baptist Church, Cincinnati OH
LUNCH
6:30 p.m. – Brother Kenny Hurst,
Pastor, Storms Creek Missionary Baptist Church, Ironton OH
7:30 p.m. – Brother Jonathan Turner,
Pastor, Richland Baptist Church, Livermore, KY
MONDAY
10:00 a.m. – Brother Paul Reynolds,
Assistant Pastor, Independence Baptist Church, Foristell MO
11:00 a.m. – Brother Joe Head,
Pastor, Winton Place Baptist Church, Cincinnati OH
LUNCH
CHANGED DATES FOR THANKSGIVING CONFERENCE
The New Hope Missionary Baptist Church will be hosting the Thanksgiving Conference again this November – but it will not be during Thanksgiving week this year. The new dates will be Monday-Wednesday – November 10, 11, 12. Please note and mark these new dates.
FOUNDERS DAY OFFERINGS
We know June is past now – at least the calendar month June has come and gone. But, the need for the Founders Day Offering goes on and on…month by month.
You see, the contributions we receive from your Founders Day Offering go toward supplying the monthly commitments we make to our missionaries to provide for their essential living and ministry expenses. Every month, we must disburse at least $43,300.00 just to maintain the standard essential commitments we have made to our 11 faithful, full-time missionary families.
When the monthly General Fund offerings do not cover those commitments, then we must reduce the amounts we disburse to the missionaries that month. What it always comes down to is reducing the amounts we disburse to them for their modest salaries and personal/ministry expenses allowances.
You should be receiving soon your special Founders Day Offering issue of the Mission Sheets (click here to read online) along with one of our new brochures: “Caring For Those Who Care For the World” (click here to read online) which will explain the need and function of the General Fund to supply our missionaries’ monthly needs.
Please read both of those pieces and respond as generously as God enables you to give. Whether it is June, July, August – or whenever – just designate your offering “Founders Day Offering” and we will apply it to keeping your missionaries’ proverbial heads above the proverbial financial water for that month! I promise you: they will need it!
BFM BROCHURES
We now have TWO very attractive and informative professionally-produced brochures. We want you to help us get these promotional messages into the hands of anyone and everyone who is interested in the mission work the Lord is accomplishing through the missionaries who are supported by your offerings through BFM.
(1) The first of these brochures is one that will introduce you to BFM and inform you about the basic principles by which BFM functions. (click here to view)
(2) The second brochure is just now ‘hot off the press.’ This one is entitled “Caring for those who care for the world,” and is designed to inform and explain just how essential the monthly General Fund is to the daily living and ministry needs of our missionaries. (click here to view)
Both of them are full-color, either 6 or 8 pages 8 ½ x 11 format, pictorial, and informative. Will you please help us distribute these brochures as widely as you can?
If you will send your name and mailing address to:
Dave Parks, 3985 Boston Road, Lexington KY 40514
email: daveparks[at]twc.com | phone: 859.223.8374 –
and tell us how many sets of these brochures you want – we will get them back to you by return shipping.
For now, you can access an electronic flip-through version of the new brochure by going to our website and clicking on the brochure cover.
Again, please serve as ambassadors for your missionaries by helping us get either single-copy sets to interested persons or bundles to distribute in our churches. The brochures will ‘speak for themselves’ – for our missionaries.
MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH
Two of our longest-serving missionary families are on furlough in the States together at this time: John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher. Paul has written in his Mission Sheets newsletter, “Wanda and I have been in Brazil for 40 years. During this period, we have taken only one full-year furlough.” But, they all have come together to the States for a year’s furlough. John and Alta Hatcher have been serving our Lord in partnership with Baptist Faith Missions for 60 years and wanted to come Stateside for this furlough. Paul and Wanda have come with them to accompany and help them. Also with them is Wanda’s mom, Willa McGary. ‘Miss Willa’ and Wanda’s deceased dad, Wilford, served as church-planting missionaries in Eastern Kentucky Appalachia for 35 years. Willa has also been living with Paul and Wanda in Manaus since December 2013.
So, they are all living and traveling together. They plan to set up their residence in Florida during this time to give them better access to Brazil, especially for family and friends in Brazil to come and visit with them during this year.
Paul says: ‘We will be available to speak and share missions. We can be contacted at: (239)227-6551 or rphatcher[at]gmail.com.’ We encourage you to pray for them and correspond with them.
Their present address is: 615 Key West Avenue, Davenport FL 33897-3600
Telephone: (863) 438-6922
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Mission Sheet: SPECIAL ISSUE – Founder’s Month Offering
Here is your advance copy of the Founders Day Offering special issue of the Mission Sheets soon to arrive in your postal mailbox.
Please read and respond with your Founders Day Offering to supply our missionaries’ essential monthly needs. Thank you!
BFM Mission Sheet – SPECIAL ISSUE for Founder’s Month
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