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,

The new year has started at a little slower pace. Thank the Lord for that. There is so much to be thankful for that happened in the year that just ended. It was way too busy though. This year will probably get that way soon, but for now I am grateful for a couple of days of rest.

In early December Bev and I made a quick trip to the state capital, Rio Branco. We drove in my all Brazilian made “jeep”. Its real name is Troller. The road is in pretty good shape by our standards. You wouldn’t agree, by your standards. This was the quickest we have ever made this trip. It is exactly 400 miles. On the return we made it in exactly 7 hours. We needed some parts and equipment that we can’t get here. The church was in bad need of some new microphones. Things are still very, very expensive in Brazil, so we drove another 140 miles to Bolivia to do some of our shopping. One of the wireless systems we were looking for costs $1,350.00 here in Brazil. In all, we bought 7 different mics (same brand) for $1,179.00. Some of these were regular wired mics, but still a huge savings.

Once back home we continued the preparations for our Christmas program. This is a lot of work. Fortunately my part is more construction and a little oversight. The church does most of the heavy lifting (working with over 150 people!). Crissy and Andrew are the ones that actually put this together and pull this off. This year we had 6 nights from Friday through Wednesday the 25th. The crowds were way past overflow. We only permit visitors in the main auditorium. All the members go to the third floor of our annex and watch the program on the big screen. Because of the extension I put on the stage we have to trim our seating in the auditorium back to 800. We still had over 1000. Those who cannot sit down, stand shoulder to shoulder in the aisles and along the back and sides. Some nights we even had over a thousand in the annex. Every available chair and pew from every room is either in the main building or the annex. Still hundreds stand for an hour and a half. They don’t seem to mind. We do have a few members who complain about not being able to see it “live”, as in the auditorium. One of our elders even “invited” one of these complainers to find another church. He or she won’t, of course, but I understand the frustration.

Mike Creiglow holding the title for their new church property.

Every year there is a different story line and all new songs. The birth, life, death, burial and resurrection is worked in and depicted every year. We even have one of our newborn babies in the manger and Mary’s arms. This year 3 different babies played Jesus! Before the final act and closing song one of the pastors brings a 10 minute message. This year we had 45 professions of faith. Lots of creativity, talent, hours and money go into this, but it is more than worthwhile.

During our watch night service I was able to present the title to our new property to the church. Now that was a celebration and a half, just a week after the Christmas celebration. Because of this purchase, we have some bills to get caught up on. These are mostly “in house” and hopefully will be paid off soon. We now have over 18 acres just 3 miles from our present location. Please pray that by next Christmas we will be able to get a roof over a space that will seat a few thousand.

Thanks for all of your faithful prayers and support. May God bless you greatly in this new year.

In Christ,

Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com

Click here to donate to BFM.