Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [April 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.
April 15, 2015
Dear Brethren,
First Baptist Church just sent out our newest missionary family. Idevaldo, Queila and their two little girls left for the city of Jordão on March 17. The town is just 8000 people of which half are Indians from three different tribes. Jordão is at the mouth of the Jordão River. The town actually sits on the banks of the Tarauacá River with the Jordão flowing in on the other side. The Tarauacá is a tributary of the Juruá River (our river) and flows into the Juruá hundreds of miles down stream from us. Just to remind you: The Juruá River is a tributary of the amazon. All this to say that Idevaldo and family are way back in the bush, almost on the Peruvian border.
It took several days to get their furniture and baggage there. The river is very small and shallow. Even though we are still in the rainy season, one day without rain that far up means that only small canoes can get through. They finally got everything there and moved into the house we rented for them. They have already had the first services and 9 people have been saved. We are the first and only Baptists in the whole region.
Unfortunately I was not able to go along to help them with their move. My son Andrew fell ill suddenly about 4 days before that trip. He went to the doctor on a Thursday, ran some tests on Friday and on Saturday he and I were in Manaus. Five doctors that we talked to here told us that he should get out of Cruzeiro do Sul and see a specialized surgeon in a big city as soon as possible. We had all the appointments set up to see the doctor in Manaus before we ever left home. We were able to get all the tests and reserve the surgical center for the same week.
The surgery was 3 hours and went well. The recovery started great, but then there was a complication. He was in grave danger for a period of over 60 hours. I did not sleep or eat during that time. Many hours of prayer. He was conscious most of the time, but came very close to death. The Lord spared him though. We are back home now and he is recovering nicely.
The first Sunday back in the pulpit was a great and humbling feeling. That was Easter Sunday. My message started with God’s explanation that the life is in the blood. Then we went through the last moments of the death of Christ in the 4 gospels. Then I shared the sensation I had as a father seeing the life drain out of my son. My son was spared though. God’s Son was not. Nobody will ever know or fully understand what that feels like. Andrew and I can appreciate it considerably more now. Five more people gave their lives to Christ that night. Many tears were shed as they understood at least a little of what our God did for us. I still can’t stop crying every time I remember. Continue to pray for us. I am still not over this ordeal, by any means. It will be a while.
Andrew’s treatment was all done through private medicine. He doesn’t have insurance, since it doesn’t work that well in this kind of economy. If he had gone through the government provided “health care”, he wouldn’t be with us today. Anyway, if you would like to help, please do. He has a wife and 4 children to support and this was a major hit financially. Just hospital and surgery were about $7,500.00.
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
Read more
Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [August 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.
August 13, 2014
Dear Brethren,
This month I spent 2 weeks on a motorcycle trip leaving Brazil and visiting Peru, Bolivia and Chile. This was for adventure, but the Kingdom is ever present. One of the things I wanted to do in Chile was buy a new computer at the Free Zone in Iquiqui. Baptist churches are not as prevalent or visible as in Brazil. The Andean culture is ancient and dominant. Very different from what I am used to here in Brazil. Nevertheless, while in Puno (city on the shores of Lake Titicaca) I met a great Baptist named Henry. He was saved at age 20 and is a member of a Baptist church of about 200 members. He teaches a Bible class 3 times a week. He went to Copacabana, Bolivia with us. There are no more American missionaries in Bolivia, or so I was told. The president there hates all Americans. Henry says that many Bolivians are being saved in spite of the persecution by the president who he described as “tonto” or CRAZY! My good friend Sherman Smith was along for this trip and we almost got caught in “no man’s land” for Americans on the border between Bolivia and Peru. It was tense. I won’t be going back to Bolivia any time soon. Anyway we traveled 3500 miles through the Andes. Much of the trip was at 15,000 feet. One mountain pass was 16,000 feet. The winds were violent. We were in temps at or below 0º much of the time. We stayed one night at a little town called Macusani which is almost 16,000 feet. There was no heat in the rooms and no water in the communal bathroom. Most of our guys were fainting, vomiting, dizzy and out of breath. I was fine. Like I said: adventure!
We had a good month here at church. There was another baptism with 26 new members. Last weekend we had 3 days of special services. The main feature was the tenth anniversary of our theatre group. Each night they presented a play which they created around a pirate theme. The message was about the true treasure of salvation in Christ. There were 9 people saved just this weekend and 5 more requests for baptism.
The five pastors of First Baptist Church have been busy working with our chapels and chapel pastors. At the beginning of this year we allowed our chapels to have Sunday evening services. For a short time this put a dent in our attendance at the mother church. Now it looks like we have already grown back the ones who now attend the chapel services. Sunday night we were at capacity again. This past weekend the Catholic church had their biggest festivity of the year, but had no impact on our attendance.
Zico, our missions director, took Idevaldo and wife to visit the town of Jordão on the upper reaches of the Tarauacá River. They are our newest missionary couple and we will be sending them to the field later this year. The church has already approved them and put them on full time salary.
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
Read more
