Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [September 2014]
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, 2014
Dear Brethren,
Hello from the…….States! Right now Bev and I are on a short vacation in the States. So I am writing this from the mission house in Lexington, Kentucky. But before this could happen we had a lot to happen in Brazil.
The week before we left home I had several short mission trips to make.
The river is very low and the summer (dry season) is in full swing. Manuel and I headed 100 miles up river to Porto Walter to visit our congregation there and start the construction of their new building. It took us 9 hours in one of our aluminum canoes. Not bad for as low as the river is. We started laying out the position of the foundations and doing some digging the same day and worked into the night. The next day we managed to get a backhoe to do the biggest job on the lot. We managed to square up and level everything to begin the actual foundations. I just talked to Hudson and Manuel and they are up there, as I write, working on the footers.
The same week we went across river to Miritizal to build the first truss for that new work. We had plenty of help from the members so it went pretty quickly. Just yesterday they sent me a picture of what they have done. They have the building under roof. This is the way I like to see things happen. I gave them a little help, instructed them on how to proceed and the task is finished while I rest up here in the US!
The weekend before leaving Cruzeiro do Sul I was able to visit our missionary Rivaldo at Nova Cintra. Most of the year I would go there by river, but in the dry season it can be reached by a narrow dirt road. They are in a brand new building and had over 200 people inside and almost that many that couldn’t get in. They are doing really great. One woman made a profession of faith on Saturday night.
On Tuesday, August 26th, Bev and I went to Manaus for our conference at Nova Igreja Batista. David Hatcher is pastor and has done a super job with this training/fellowship conference that happens every 2 years. There were pastors and leaders from 13 states, 5 countries and 39 different cities. We had over 30 from our home town. Unfortunately for me I took the flu along for the ride. I was able to go to the opening banquet and the last service. By Saturday night I was able to preach. There were over 3000 present. Bev and I went from church straight to the airport to catch our flight to the States.
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 [June 2014]
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.
June 12, 2014
Today is a big deal any way you look at it. Today is “Valentines Day” in Brazil. Today is the opening game of the World Cup soccer tournament, which is being held in Brazil. The tournament returns to Brazil after our loss in the final match in 1950. The really big deal today though, is that Bev and I have now been married for 44 years! Time flies when you are having fun and boy are we having fun.
Last month I made 2 river trips and 2 road trips visiting our works in the interior. The first trip was to preach a couple of times at Pé da Terra. The church there has really picked up since Aésio took over as pastor. This church is on the road to Mâncio Lima. They are having an attendance over 100 in a very rural setting.
Bro. Creiglow and Pastor Alexandre with floor plans for the new building at Port Walter on the upper Juruá River.
The next trip was up the Juruá River to work with the congregation there on their plans to build a new building. Their old wooden building is shot. They have such crowds that the floor is starting to sag. Even so they are going to shore it up and add another 12 feet to the length of it until they can get the ball rolling on their new facilities. We came to the consensus that they should build a 2 story brick building with 8 classrooms and other rooms on the lower floor and the second floor will be their new auditorium. They will have access to the auditorium directly from street level via a ramp, since the property is on a slope. Upon my return home I drew up the floor plans and virtual views. Last week I took those up to present and explain to the congregation. I have included a picture with Pastor Alexandre and me holding up one of the sets of drawings. They don’t have much money, but they are excited.
PMy next visit was to Santa Rosa. They called one of our guys from First Baptist to be their new pastor. They had been without a pastor for a few months and we had been helping them by sending someone every weekend and sometimes during the week, too. They called Alquimar, nicknamed “Guima”. He and his wife, Isabel, have a little boy called Douglas. Their building is very nice and even has AC! It was packed for the Sunday night service when we officially “installed” him in the pulpit.
Somewhere in there Hudson and I made it back to the mountains on the Moa River. There was still quite a bit of water in the river, so the trip was long but a breeze. We didn’t even get rained on! We had the congregations from República and Serra together for the weekend. On Sunday morning we held a baptism and 14 were baptized.
Last week Hudson and I went all the way back up the Juruá River to the Peruvian border where we gathered 4 of our missionaries and had a 3 day visit with our congregation, too. The river is now very low. We went in my 16’ shallow water boat with 25HP outboard. We managed to get there with the prop drive. However I took the jet drive, just in case. Well it was the case. The river went down another 12 to 18 inches during the days we were there. On Sunday afternoon it took us a couple of hours to switch out the prop drive for the jet pump. We got it all checked out and tested before the last service that evening. We got up at 4 something in the morning and were already on the river by 5:00AM. It was still pitch dark, but that is not a problem for the jet drive as long as you can keep the boat between the river banks. It took us 15 hours to come down stream. It is over 455Km (284 miles) from the border to Cruzeiro do Sul. After we got past the last set of rapids we stopped and switched back to the prop drive. It took us only 28 minutes to make the swap. Otherwise we would have been on the river for 18 hours. By 8:00PM I had the boat out of the water. That was an ordeal, which I am trying to forget. We still have no boat ramp in the largest city on the Juruá River! Beverly was waiting to make me some supper after the 24 hour fast.
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 [May 2014]
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.
May 9, 2014
Dear Brethren,
This year Hudson and I have traveled 2,341 miles on 3 rivers. We have visited 11 of our pastors and missionaries. We have visited and reported on 17 of our works. Last month, when it was time to write my monthly report I was at Tipisca, Peru. I used my satellite phone to ask Bev to send you a note letting you know my whereabouts.
On that trip to the upper Juruá River we visited 4 of our most distant congregations and 5 of our missionaries. The last 2 missionaries live and work on the other side of the border in Peru. Since my bigger boat and motor was still waiting for parts we had to go with the little 25HP outboard. Scorching hot tropical sun every morning and rain in the afternoon. This boat doesn’t have a top, so you know what the weather did to us. Layers of sunblock lotion in the morning and rain gear in the afternoon. It was fine though. We neither burned nor froze. The works at Thaumaturgo, Triunfo and Tipisca are all growing. Foz do Breu is stable even though several families have moved away.
This is in front of our building in Tipisca, Peru. Missionaries from left to right: Hudson, José Maia, his wife Silvania and Eduardo. Our luggage piled on the ATV is ready to head down to the river for our return trip to Cruzeiro do Sul.
After that trip I also went back to visit the congregation at Porto Walter 94 miles up stream. We are gearing up to start a new building there. Even one of our meetings with just members was on a Monday night and there were over 70 present to discuss the building project. They have been packing the old building on Sundays for some time now.
My next trip was down river to Ipixuna. The parts were still not in for my motor, so I took my smallest boat with 20HP. I had just run it a couple of weeks earlier, but it still decided not to start when we launched the boat at Guajará. I worked on it for 2 hours right about noon. Boy was it hot. That threw us behind by 2 hours, so we did not get in to Ipixuna until 8 at night. Fortunately the river was very full, not many logs floating down and my flashlight is very bright. We spent 3 days with the church. The church there partners with us to do missions in our general plan for the whole Juruá River on that section. We checked on the 4 works that we established and put into their care.
This month I also visited our missionaries and works at Guajará, Pé da Terra and Rodrigues Alves.
Here at the home church things continue to progress. There have been several saved. There were 23 baptized in March and 33 in April. We are always losing people who move away. Last month we only lost one family! That is quite a victory for us! We continue to work on the annex a little at a time as funds trickle in. Attendance was not that great at the beginning of the year, but has built back up steadily.
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 [December 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.
December 2, 2013
Dear Brethren,
The first higher waters of the new rainy season have arrived. The river came up a little in early November. Hudson, Manuel and I made a visit to our work at Porto Walter. This trip had been planned a couple of months in advance, but we were not sure which boat we would go in. The Lord sent enough water for me to go in my bigger boat, one with a top on it to keep us out of the sun and rain. It was smooth sailing with no sudden encounters with stumps or sandbars.
The building was packed for all 4 services. Hudson took the boat on up river for a couple of days to visit 3 other preaching points. There were 2 professions of faith at Novo Horizonte. Meanwhile, back at Porto Walter we had 4 more saved. We also had the biggest baptism service in the history of the work there. I baptized 26 on Sunday morning. Our missionaries there are Alexandre and Rejane. They are doing a great job.
Mike Creiglow baptized 26 people at Porto Walter, the biggest baptismal service in the history of the work there.
Also, in November I visited 2 of our chapels here in town. The first visit was to Cruzeirinho. This is our work on the west side of town. They are still in their wooden building, but are to start a new brick building early next year. The other visit was to Avenida São Paulo. This is on the north side of town. They, too, are doing very well. Right now they are putting in the ceiling and soon will be putting AC in the main auditorium.
Since we are packed out on Sunday night at First Baptist Church we decided to let the chapels start having Sunday evening services. We have still had mostly capacity crowds on Sunday night. It has now been 2 months that we did this change. So far we have had just 2 services with a few empty seats in the balcony of the home church. I have gotten so used to seeing the building completely full on Sunday night over the past 20 years that this new phase seems strange and a little scary to me. Gotta fill those seats!
We have works on the North, South, East and West sides of town. Not too long ago we added 2 more chapels. One is on the other side of the Juruá River and the other on the Northeast side of town in a neighborhood called Centrinho. Both of these already have property. Miritizal, across river, has already started their building. Foundation and slab are finished.
Bro. Creiglow helped build the first truss for the church at Guajará that is currently bursting at the seams in their old building.
Bev and I went to visit the congregation at Campinas. Luiz Alberto and Alcinete take care of this work. They have had some opposition from within over the past couple of months, which I have tried to help them with. We have met a number of times to walk them through the problems. Seems to be under control. One of the original members from when the work was first started is feeling threatened now that the work is finally taking off. They have outgrown their wooden building and will be starting a big brick building soon. There were over 200 present for the Sunday night service. They had almost that many in the morning.
Last week I visited the work at Guajará 5 times. Now that there is a road there I have been able to go just to work during the day. I have been helping them with the next stage of their new building. They are bursting at the seams in their old building. This week I built the first truss for them. Their carpenter will take over from here.
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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