The Lord at Work in Tipisca, Peru
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 21, 2019
Dear Brethren,
A few days ago Zico (our missions director) and Lúcio Maia went with me up river to the border and beyond. The first leg of the trip took us all the way to the border village of Foz do Breu. It took us over 11 hours to do those almost 300 miles. We had some engine trouble, but still made it before dark.
People are moving back to the village and we had really good crowds for the services, over 70 people. Before heading into Peru we held a morning baptism service. I baptized 12. One couple had been waiting for some time to first get legally married then baptized. Ercílio had been one of the town drunks and enemy of the gospel. Now he is a go-getter missionary. He has made 22 mission trips in the last 12 months. He used to detest the native tribes up the Breu River. Now he has become friends and has made 5 mission trips to visit our brothers from the Kaxinauá tribe.
We continued to Tipisca, Peru. On arrival, our missionary José Maia (Lúcio’s dad) took our baggage to his house on his 4 wheeler. I stayed behind to get the boat and motor bedded down. Just as I finished, a huge tropical rain storm came in. There is no pavement in Tipisca and this time of year the mud is knee deep in many places. When I saw the rain was not going to stop I decided to go ahead and make my way up the slippery bank and into town through the driving rain and mud. I had to go barefoot and on the way I slit my foot open on who knows what. For the rest of that week my feet were wet and muddy most of the time and could not bandage the foot. A week later it had pretty much healed up though, so no harm no foul.
We dedicated the new building on the weekend. José Maia did an admirable job and built the building to match the design we use all over in our congregations. It seats over 100 people, is on a corner lot, right on the main street of Tipisca. This newly purchased lot and what we already had, gives us over an acre. We had over 200 people in at least 2 services and well over a hundred in the other 2. The army brought most of their soldiers out for 1 service and the local police department came on Sunday morning. This is a first. In fact we had never had crowds like this in the several years since we opened the work there (over 10 years). Up to now we had made inroads among the children, but no progress with the adults. They now have a big group of kids and a number of adults that attend regularly.
Let me tell you about one of the ladies who trusted Christ while we were there. Dona Mila and her husband are in their 70’s and were what you might call founders of Tipisca. She was born over on the coast of Brazil and moved to Cruzeiro do Sul as a little girl. Her husband is Peruvian and was working in our town as a young man. They met and married. When the Peruvian government put in an outpost a few miles up the Juruá River from the border the young couple moved there. This became the town of Porto Breu, which the locals call Tipisca. Dona Mila and her husband were drinking buddies. It was not uncommon to see the couple sleeping off their liquor in the grass along the paths of town. They were both at church with us. Both have stopped drinking and Dona Mila has trusted Christ!
We came all the way back to Cruzeiro do Sul in one long day, but not without more engine trouble. I had to stop in the middle of nowhere and repair the motor at high noon, lots of bugs and mud, too. This motor is now over 10 years old and broken down on me on my last 3 trips. It is about time to replace it. I will be looking to you to help me with this in the near future. For now, just pray.
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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God is at Work in Cruzeirão, Cruzeirinho, Cruzeiro do Sul, & Assis!
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.
November 23, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Last month Beverly and I went to Assis, Brasil, for the ordination service of Pastor Eliésio De Oliviera. He has been pastor at First Baptist Church for over 16 years. When he was in high school, he was a member of our church and after graduation he went to seminary in Belém, Pará. When he returned he went straight into the pastorate. He has been on many mission trips with me and has been a great colleague in the Kingdom. The church asked me to perform his ordination. Four other pastors helped out.
We went back 2 more times to Assis, Brasil, to attend their 56th anniversary conference. I spoke at the opening then closed out the meeting on a Sunday night. This conference was really special as the church had just moved into their new building and I was honored to do the dedication. They had huge crowds all 4 nights. I don’t know how many people the building will seat, but it is several hundred. There was one profession of faith and a number of other decisions.
We had our last baptism of the year here at First Baptist in Cruzeiro do Sul. We added 31 new members. This month we lost 2 more really faithful families who were transferred to other cities. We did gain 2 more families though. Our growth is very slow because of all the folks who move away. We are grateful for the growth we have though.
Bev and I also visited the work at Cruzeirão. They are in a small building that seats about 150 people. They had to have most of the members go outside to free up seats for visitors. I closed out a month of lessons on the family with them. I shared the gospel, too. There were a couple of professions of faith.
I made a visit to Cruzeirinho, also. We had our first big rain that night, so the crowd was down a little, but still they had over 100 people.
If you are confused about all this “Cruzeiro” stuff, here is a quick explanation. The name of our city is Cruzeiro do Sul which means Southern Cross. Most people in the region just call it Cruzeiro. Then Cruzeirão means “big Cruzeiro”, but not because it is bigger than Cruzeiro do Sul. Rather it is near our soccer stadium, which is called Cruzeirão. Cruzeirinho means “little Cruzeiro” and it really is little!
Our church has had to celebrate Thanksgiving in our small groups for the past several years. Years ago, we tried to find places to have the whole church together, but it was just too big and even expensive. My small group, which is way overdue for what we call multiplication, had 51 people for our dinner.
On November 27th I will be taking my son Andrew to Manaus for yet another surgery. He has been really ill and the doctors discovered that he has several stones in his liver. One of these is 3/8th of an inch in diameter and has caused excruciating pain and other symptoms. We have been able to see doctors and get some basic tests done, although the local hospital is basically shut down right now. The state has not paid doctors, nurses or other help for the last few months. Andrew does not have any kind of insurance, so we will be paying everything out of pocket. Please pray for him and the procedures.
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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Bro. Brandon’s Courage and Wisdom Brought to Fruition in Porto Walter!
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.
October 15, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Our founder, missionary Joseph F Brandon, arrived in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre in 1926. He was the first man to bring the gospel to the Juruá valley. Just 3 years later he organized First Baptist Church with 13 members. He continued to share the Good News in the villages along the river with his new converts. To reach these distant villages he had a boat built and named it “The Pilgrim”. Many of the members of first Baptist traveled with him.
About 100 miles upstream he came to a little town called Porto Walter. At the time, Porto Walter was the biggest village other than Cruzeiro do Sul. It was a major hub for the collection of native rubber and distribution of merchandise to the rubber workers. The nuns and priests put in their biggest schools there. Children came from all around to go to these schools, which had dorms for the kids. The Catholic religious leaders were actually more powerful and influential than in Cruzeiro do Sul.
When Brother Brandon arrived there and was getting ready to land, the head priest, a stern and cruel German named Dom Henrique, sent a mob down to the river’s edge. As one of Brother Brandon’s new converts grabbed the rope and got ready to jump ashore, one of the men in the crowd, brandishing his machete, said, “If you try to tie up here I will cut the rope and cut you up, too!” Brother Brandon backed away from the confrontation. “The Pilgrim” moved on up river to a little village called Campo de Santana. There he preached and many were saved. We still have a congregation there to this day.
After the threat by the most powerful man on the Juruá River, Dom Henrique, it seemed as if Porto Walter was put off limits to the gospel. When we first visited Campo de Santana in the early 60’s I found it strange that we would pass this big town by to visit a little congregation further upstream.
Later on I was called to be a missionary and I too would pass Porto Walter and continue spreading the Gospel all the way up the Juruá and into Peru. It just wasn’t right. Then in the early 90’s I made a special visit to the town to “case the place”, you might say. In 1992 I made a strong appeal for a missionary to Porto Walter in our annual missions and pastors conference. Two years later First Baptist Church sent Brother Mário and family. I took them up, rented a house and started looking for property. The Catholic church was not at all happy that these “crentes” (believers) had dared to invade their territory. It was really hard and the persecution was nonstop, although they were no longer able to use bodily harm as a tool to try to stop us.
Nine years ago, we sent Mário to a new field. In his place we sent Alexandre and Rejane. They had just finished seminary and had spent several months in our own internship at First Baptist Church to complete their training.
Last week I went up to visit the work and celebrate our 24th anniversary of the first steps of our work at Porto Walter. We now have a parsonage and a new 2 story building. The building is still under construction, but usable. We had 3 days of teaching and preaching. Three more people were saved and on Sunday morning I baptized 21 new members.
Here is the best part though: On Sunday night, October 14, 2018 we organized First Baptist Church of Porto Walter with 158 charter members. The church already has 4 congregations that they visit every weekend. They bought 2 boats and motors to take their missionaries to their fields.
The cruelty of those priests and nuns of years past is now just a faint memory in the history of Porto Walter as hundreds flock to First Baptist Church every week to hear the Word of God.
As for the priest Dom Henrique, all that is left is his name on a school here in town. He eventually became the bishop over the whole Juruá Valley parish, but left no lasting legacy. Jesus Christ is leaving a vivid lasting mark on all of this region by way of his churches and servants.
Brother Brandon, “The Pilgrim” and her precious cargo didn’t live to see what I have seen. However, his courage and wisdom have come to fruition. His legacy is eternal.
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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Visiting Relatives & Recalling God’s Faithfulness
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.
September 25, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings to all of our dear friends and supporters. Hope you have had a blessed month. We have had a great month.
This month I had a wonderful time with 2 of my brothers. We made a trip together to visit our relatives and the place where we were born: Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre. That is where Brother Bobby Creiglow worked. We lived up in the jungle 3 days’ travel by boat. That is where Bro. Bobby Creiglow went once and that is when God worked in my life the desire for salvation. Back then, there was no other church except the Catholic church, but now there is a Baptist church. Praise the Lord. I also had the privilege to visit other places that I used to go with Mike Creiglow on mission trips. In the village of Porto Walter, where I went to Catholic school to study to be a priest, there was no other kind of church. The Catholic Church was the only one permitted. Today there is Baptist church there! It was so wonderful to visit the church. When I got saved, I was the only one in my family. The family really hated that I was a Christian. Today it is a blessing to be with many more in my family who have been reached and been saved. What a blessing! Thanks to all of you who have given to BFM for so many years. God bless each of you. Thanks to Bro. Bobby Creiglow and Mike who gave their lives to serve God in missions.
Things are good in the missions. This month we have a holiday that is called Kids Day. We are making plans for each mission for a special day. In the community of Ubim, we are having a sister church who offered to help with this special day. They are going to bring people who do health and beauty things. We will visit the community to invite parents and their children. It is amazing how many young people and children there are in this community. It is a place with lots of opportunities to reach these children and teens.
We are praying that God well raise up more people that want to serve in reaching out to the many communities around us. The buses that we have are of great use to us and we can bring those that live close to the church.
This Saturday we are going to have Bus Cleaning Day. We are getting them all in order, from documents to looks! There are lots of people that live close to us but do not have transportation.
Love in Christ our Lord and Savior,
Odali and 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
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Ladies Retreat at Acampamento Salém; Ordination in Assis
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.
September 12, 2018
Dear Brethren,
My routine is pretty much back to normal, but according to Beverly I am taking on more than I should. Since our return I have been able to get my diet back in shape and have shed 18 lbs. Every day I try to get in a 4 or 5 mile walk/run. Feeling much better already.
We had our first baptism since getting home. Fourteen new members were added to the church. There have been a few people saved in the last 6 weeks and some other new members added by letter.
Bev and I visited the church at Assis, Brasil. The pastor there is Eliésio Oliveira. He is a local guy who was a member of our church when he was in high school. He spent 4 years in Belém, Pará while in seminary. His home church called him to be pastor as soon as he returned. He has done a great job and is on board with missions. We have travelled together on many mission trips. I am to be with them next month to lead in his ordination service. Then in November I am to return for the dedication of their brand new building, which is still under construction.
I have held 2 meetings with 2 other churches in the area over the past few days. One was at Igreja Batista Elim and the other at Igreja Batista Esperança.
Bev got on my case because I have been either preaching or teaching somewhere every night. One or 2 nights a week I record TV programs. Then there are our services and classes at First Baptist. Besides these I have been accepting quite a few invitations to speak at other churches. She is looking out for me and my health, but I had to remind her that these things are “sortta” what I am called to do!
Bev’s mom passed away last week, so Bev had to turn around and return to the States. The funeral was this last Saturday. Bev is helping deal with some other family issues. We still don’t know when she will be able to come home. Please pray for her and the family. God’s timing is always amazing.
Ladies Retreat at Acampamento Salém
The ladies of our church held their regular September retreat at our camp (Acampamento Salém). The ladies ministry team is about 15-20 women. Not counting the team, there were over 200 women present. I don’t know how they do it. We really only have room for about 120 people in the cabins. It is summer time here (dry season – although it is actually winter now in the southern hemisphere), so many of them camped out in tents.
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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Back in Brazil; Picking Up the Pace on TV Ministry
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.
August 15, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Bev and I were in the States for 2 months. During that time, I had several medical procedures. I was also able to get some needed rest. We left the US on July 16th. It took us almost a week to get home. There were all kinds of delays, layovers and missed flights. The craziest trip ever. We are home though and back in the routine.
Since I had been away for so long, the other pastors needed some time off or had other places to be, so I have been taking care of much more than usual. The weekends have been really busy. I have also started back on some of our construction projects, although I am not doing any of the physical stuff just yet. My recovery period from the surgery was just finished this week. I have been getting my diet back in order and have been getting a 3-mile walk/run in every day. I have lost over 10 lbs. already. Have been feeling much better. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me.
We have picked up the pace on our TV ministry. I have been recording 2 programs a week. Several things needed to be revamped. I made homemade teleprompters, but recently we did not have the right software and one of the monitors was down. That has all been repaired. We also didn’t have a countdown clock. I solved that by just using an app on my iPad. The programs are 30 minutes. They are aired locally every Saturday and Sunday morning. We have been on the air for almost 30 years. We still have some work to do on the studio set, lighting and a chromakey setup. I have a team of 8 young men who help with all the media activities. They are getting us set up to have pages on Instagram and Facebook. Soon we will have a YouTube channel also. Live streaming is not far away, Lord willing.
I have had some pretty significant dates in my life during this year. On February 14th I turned 70. On May 4th I celebrated 60 years as a child of the King. Then just a few days ago, on August 6th I completed 40 years as pastor of First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul. On that Monday, for some reason, I didn’t get to go on my daily afternoon walk. Instead Bev and I were in the porch swing enjoying the beautiful evening when a large group of church members came in to serenade me and bring gifts. What an honor!
There is quite a bit of great news coming from the mission field around us, but I am saving that for my next report.
For now, though I just want to thank all of you who have been so kind, thoughtful and supportive during these last few months. They have been trying to me, but you have been there for me and the work here. Thanks to BFM for helping us out with tickets and keeping up our insurance. Thanks to others who helped out financially, too. Thanks to all who have prayed. Please continue. I really want to continue to serve at full capacity until He comes.
Thanks again 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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Headed Home after a Couple Months in the States
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 13, 2018
Dear Brethren,
On May 1st I was visiting our church at Santa Rosa. They were celebrating their 19th anniversary. The house was full and overflowing. Really enjoyed preaching to them. During the message some of our members noticed that my voice sounded different. The next day I was down with the flu. I already had some other health issues, so this really hit me hard.
Two weeks later I was still down while our church was having her missions conference and 89th birthday celebration. I missed out on all the fun. Sunday morning, I missed out on the Lord’s supper and baptism. In fact, I was supposed to baptize my granddaughter Melany. Instead my son-in-law performed the baptism. We added 37 new members.
The next day Bev and I went on a 3-day journey to the United States. We have been here for almost 2 months. Since arriving I have been treated by 9 doctors and countless nurses. I have had 2 surgeries and a bunch of other procedures. My recovery period will be finished in another month. On Monday, July 16th we will be returning to Brazil, God willing.
Many of you knew about this and Bev and I are so grateful to all who have helped in so many ways. For those of you who knew nothing about all of this, let me reassure you that all is well, as far as I know! To all of you: I will not bore you with all the details about the stuff that has been bothering me. Just pray that I will be well enough to carry on what God has called me to do. Once again, thanks to all.
While here in the States I have been able to get some much needed rest. Most of the time I have been reading, walking and watching the World Cup! However, I have been in touch with many of our workers and leaders scattered over a wide area down home. Things are going pretty good. In fact, the church baptized another group of over 30 new members. They also had our annual month of intense Bible study, Scripture memorization and personal evangelism. More about that later. I have even been doing marriage counseling online!
Thanks to all for your understanding during this time of absence from the field. Please continue to pray for my complete recovery. There is a ton of work waiting on me when I get home.
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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Building Dedication on the Grajaú River
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 24, 2018
Dear Brethren,
We have been back four more times to visit the Katukina Tribe. Every time I teach I use some kind of object to illustrate the main theme. They are so used to government people having “meeting” with them that they just tune out to blah, blah, blah. Most of the time these outsiders (anthropologists and other official busybodies) speak “down” to them. These folks (left wingers) know what is best for these lowly souls. Does that sound familiar? Also, not all of them are fluent in Portuguese, so I have to take it slow and make it easy to understand and follow. I never stand, but sit with them and engage them the whole time, getting them to participate in the lesson. This works really well with them….as it does with everybody in the world. Uh duh! We had 3 saved two weeks ago.
The meeting at Vila São José (Breu River) among the Hunikuim went very well. There were over 200 from several locations in attendance. Just after the meeting the young man who takes care of them, Aldenir, the chief’s brother, got a bad infection from a bad tooth. They had to rush him to Cruzeiro do Sul. He had to emergency surgeries. Zico and I have been visiting him. He can barely mumble. His wife is with him, but she can speak very little Portuguese. The infection got so out of control that they had to send him to Rio Branco. The word is that he is better, but please pray for him.
Our church has kids clubs that work on Saturday mornings. We have one at the home church and then there are also clubs at most of the chapels, too. A couple of months ago one of our young women approached me about starting a new and different club for the kids of the Lagoa neighborhood. This is a slum down by the river and is the most dangerous in town. Murders happen there almost weekly. Drugs are at the center of it all. One of the 3 major gangs controls who comes and goes. We decide that the best way to do this would be to bus the kids in to church on Saturday afternoons. She and a couple of others went to talk to the gang boss to get explain the project and get permission. He agreed. On the first Saturday one of our evangelism teams went in just to witness and invite. There were 3 professions of faith that first day. Last Saturday they already had the team trained and ready to begin (the basic training for all the clubs had already been underway for 6 weeks). They bused in 47 children. Now there are kids from 2 other neighborhoods along the river that want to come. Great things are happening.
This last weekend was the dedication of a brand new building at our newest congregation. This is on the Grajaú River. This is a large village about 170 miles up river. This work was started about 2 years ago by our missionary at Porto Walter, Alexandre. Many have been saved and they wanted to put up a building. Well they did just that and with no outside funds. They also have a generator and installed lights. They fed everybody from their village and others who came from all around. A hint that they might just be Baptists!
We added 39 new members at First Baptist this month. A few by letter, too. We had 10 people saved from Sunday to Sunday last week.
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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