Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [August 2015]
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 6, 2015
Dear Brethren,
The recovery from the flu has been slow, but I am almost back to normal. We have a new building going up at camp and I have been able to help the crew with that. I went up a couple of days in my jeep and helped haul lumber from out of the jungle. I was even able to help carry some of the beams. The trailer was only able to get so far and we had to carry some very heavy stuff for a couple hundred yards out of the woods. So I guess I am back to the usual self.
We have had a good month at First Baptist. We have held 2 baptism services a month apart. There were 15 and 12 baptized. A good many more have been saved. Attendance has been really good for summer time. In fact one Sunday night we had an overflow crowd in which many could not get into the building. We have been needing to expand for years. God will make that happen in due time. Right now construction is a little far out there as the economy has really gone south. At least we have our new property waiting for the right moment.
One of two baptism groups from the past month at First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul.
This month was our annual missions conference. We had most of our missionaries in from the fields. We had three of our men who work in Peru, who managed to get all the way here. José Maia is our Brazilian missionary who works in Tipisca, Peru. Eduardo, who is a Peruvian citizen from the Caxinauá tribe, came in. Then, for the first time, Laureano, who is a Peruvian from the Ashaninka tribe came in. It was so good to have Larueano. I had not seen him for 2 or 3 years. He is one of our first converts from the days when I first started going across the border (about 15 years ago). He takes care of 4 preaching points at the mouth of the Huacapisteia River and up the same river. These are the villages we plan to visit with our medical mission team in October.
Men Present at Annual Preachers Meeting
Our newest missionary family came in, too. Idelvaldo and family were approved last year and were sent to the city of Jordão 5 months ago. They have already had a few people saved. They started meeting in a space in a public school. Then they moved to a covered area at their rented house. Now they have spruced up a “store front” and have a nice big sign up front. They are having about 40 people in services. We already have property to build our first church building. Jordão is one of the 22 “county seats” in the state of Acre. Our goal is to have a solid church planted in every one of them. We have already gotten to seven!
Meal at the annual workers meeting
Last Saturday morning we held our annual preacher’s meeting. There were 84 present. The men had 3 solid hours of practical classes on 5 different topics. It went by so fast. I taught just one of these and had 2 more ready if there had been time. The wives also got together for a lecture from Dr. Suiane. Suiane is one of our medical doctors who goes along on our medical mission trips. She just concluded another missions course and followed that with a month long practical internship in Bolivia. The ladies were thrilled to hear her testimony and teaching. We closed out with a great meal. We had over 150 present for lunch.
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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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [August 2013]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
August 13, 2013
Dear Brethren,
It has been a while. A lot of water under the bridge, many miles traveled and many bridges crossed, too.
In my last letter I told you about the church approving the purchase of the 18 acres for relocation. The approval was the easy part. Getting them to give the money to buy the property, not so much. So far we have paid $75,000.00 of the $250,000.00. I have worked day and night for weeks on this project, but know that the Lord will have to provide the miracle we need. The church has 2 lots in town and we have 4 lots near the school, which are all up for sale. Bev and I put our old house in town on the market, too. I have been working all the leads with business people. Repeated meetings and many phone calls. The Lord knows and will provide. Keep praying with us. Your prayers are very important.
Native missionaries and their families on Friday, August 2, 2013, the first night of their missions conference.
The only break from the routine of these negotiations was a 12 day motorcycle trip through the Andes of Peru. This trip was something that I have wanted to do for years and had been planned long before we knew that the property would be available. Anyway, the guys at church took over the promotion of the first offerings and did a good job while I was away. Pastor Pedro, one of our businessmen, Hudson and 13 others went along. My long time friend and buddy in crazy adventures, Sherman Smith, executive pastor of Sonrise Baptist Church, Clovis, California, was down for this trip, too. There were 2 pickup trucks full of folks and 9 bikers.
The scenery is breathtaking. The altitude is breathtaking, too! We went over 2 mountain passes at over 16,000 feet! Visits to Machu Pichu, Cusco and Lake Titicaca were all and more than I had hoped for. The trip was 2,600 miles, very dangerous and trying. We even got into a snow storm on one pass. It was eye opening in an unexpected way.
The visit to Peru was a vacation, but a missionary will always see places for what they are: mission frontiers. The jungle regions of Peru (East of the Andes) seem to show evidence of the gospel’s presence. The mountains and high plains of central and southern Peru were a shocking contrast. Going through large cities and many, many medium and small towns, my eyes kept looking for churches. Every town has a Catholic church. During the whole trip I only saw 1 Pentecostal church and 1 Mormon church. The people are still living the same religious and cultural paganism of the last 5 or 6 hundred years. Shocking!
19 new members were baptized during the August 4, 2013 morning service at First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul.
My first Sunday night sermon back at First Baptist Church was from Romans 1:19-23. I showed and mentioned the 3 Inka gods: The Condor, The Puma and The Serpent. We had an overflow crowd. There were 5 professions of faith. I also managed to challenge the church about the need for missionaries to our close neighbor Peru. We already have 2 in the jungle area, but none in the mountains.
We also held our annual missions conference last week. Most of our missionaries were in. The reports were all vibrant and uplifting. On Sunday morning we had baptism and Lord’s supper. 19 new members. Two more saved and 5 more requests for baptism, too. Great conference.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [February 2012]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
Dear Brethren,
Hudson and I made 2 long trips this month. We visited several of our works at some of the farthest places on 2 rivers. The first trip was to the mountains on the Moa River. The second trip was all the way into Peru on the Juruá River.
We visited our congregations at Pé da Serra and República. Both are doing well. Pé da Serra is steady in attendance, but we don’t expect growth as it is inside the national park. The federal government is trying to get everybody to move out. Nevertheless, the folks there have put up a new building. We helped them with our standard floor plans, design and the roofing. It is almost finished. In fact, the day we arrived I got straight out of the boat and went to work with them on the building. We held services every night and worked on the building during the days. Our visit at República was brief. This work is in the Nukini Indian reservation, so growth there is slow and limited, too. Our pastor there is Aldenízio. He is 25 years old and just graduated from high school. The tribe wanted him to be principal of the school, but he felt that it would interfere with his ministry, so he declined. He made a wise decision. The cultural and political pressures would have been huge. The day with left the reservation, headed for home, we got caught in one of our all day tropical rains. We were in my little jon boat with 20HP outboard. It was over 5 hours of COLD rain. We survived, though and just a few short days later we were back on the river in the same boat and same weather.
Bro. Mike Creiglow baptizing a couple at Foz do Breu.
Our second trip was up the Juruá River. We visited 6 of our works, 5 of our missionaries, held 6 services, baptized 2 during our 7 day trip. We also helped settle in our newest foreign missionary family. Brother Eduardo is a Caxinauá native, from Peru. We have done some switching around of missionaries and fields. All the moves were natural and practical. Brother Tito (who had been at Tipisca, Peru) moved to Contamana to work among the Chipibo, his native tribe. We then moved José Maia to Tipisca from the Breu. José had been working with the Caxinauá. He was trying to learn the language yet. While Tito was at Tipisca he had worked only with the tribes and not the native Peruvians, so we feel that José Maia will be a better fit to work with the whole population. He has plenty of experience in this type of pioneer mission work. Then the Lord brought us Eduardo and family from the Purús River. He is Caxinauá. This gives him 2 big advantages: 1. He already speaks the language and knows the culture, 2. He does not need a government permit to go into the tribe. All this to say that all fields are covered, plus a new area was opened and a new missionary added. It was a great trip. This one alone was over 1000KM. Lots of sun and plenty of rain. Lots of blessings.
The newest missionary to the Caxinauá tribe, Eduardo and his family. He already speaks the language, knows the culture, and does not need a government permit to go into the tribe!
Let me remind you about the need to pay for the jet drive and satellite phone renewal, which costs $2,000.00. Our support has also dropped dramatically over the past few months. I know the US economy is in a deep depression, but I also know that God’s people will continue to give if they see the need. Bev and I are committed to continue to serve here regardless of the support level.
So, thanks for your faithful prayers and support. God will bless you just as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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