Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [October 2013]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
October 4, 2013
Dear Friends,
So many opportunities surround us that we have to really focus so as not to attempt to put too many irons in the fire. If I had four times the number of committed volunteers than I have now, we still wouldn’t be able to fill every opening that’s available. That is why I must focus on multiplying leaders. My natural tendency would be to run from one urgent situation to the other, trying to handle each need, but I would only poorly address the issue and would soon be off in a rush to poorly address the next urgent situation. The Lord is helping me understand the Apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy to take what I’ve learned from the Scriptures and teach it to faithful men who will then teach that to yet other faithful men. Alek, Tony, Daniel, Ruvian, Rafa, Brennen, Marcio, Aurelio and Guilherme are several of just such men. I am investing my time, energy and resources in them so that all of us may be more effective in spreading the Gospel and developing followers of Christ. These young men are exciting to train and their exuberance in their walk with the Lord helps me to stay encouraged as I see growth in their spiritual lives. As a result of their increase in knowledge and faith, our church is growing steadily and we are able to plan to launch new churches in the near future.
Two of the men mentioned above, Tony and Alek, are putting audacious faith into practice. They both want to serve as pastor/missionaries, so they are seeking ways to earn a living for themselves and their families, but reduce the hours they have to work at their income earning jobs so that they will have more time to invest into ministry. Tony is praying for a job that will allow him to work about 9 days a month and will still pay about what he makes at present as a mechanic. In order for him to get this job, he had to take a written test (which he already passed) and will still have to take a physical test to confirm the position. He isn’t just sitting around waiting for the Lord to miraculously give him the job, though. He was overweight for the job description and couldn’t meet the physical demands. Ever since he began praying for the job, he has been cautious of his eating habits and has been exercising daily. He has lost over 40 lbs and has increased his overall physical strength. Alek’s job opportunity will require that he pass a very difficult written exam. He has been investing time, energy and funds into his studies to prepare for this test while he prays that the Lord opens the door. They both understand that faith without works is dead. They know that only the Lord can give them these jobs, but they are working diligently to exercise their faith through deeds. In fact, it is because they trust the Lord that they are motivated to prepare themselves to walk through the doors when they open. These men are great examples of the type of leaders we want in our churches. I pray that the Lord will bless their faith and give them these jobs so that they will have more time available for ministry.
The Alpha team bus that was damaged in the accident last month will require some extensive and expensive repairs. The initial estimate is around $7,000. The Alpha team missionaries borrowed the Logos bus that was not scheduled for interstate travel and continued their journey to Rio de Janeiro to minister in spite of the trauma and sadness they suffered from the death of the other vehicle’s driver and passenger. The Lord blessed their three weeks of ministry and evangelism and many people became followers of Christ. We still need to do the repairs on the Alpha bus and will need the funds to do so. If you sense that God would have you to contribute to this need, please label your gift, “Alpha Bus”. It would be greatly appreciated and used to take the gospel to the lost in locations where there are no churches.
Charlene, Brennen and I are very grateful to you who pray for us and who give financially that we may live and serve the Lord in southern Brazil.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby, Charlene and Brennen Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [September 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.
September 10, 2013
Dear Brethren,
Things have been going pretty good around here, but I have not been producing as much as I would like. I have had a kind of flu that set me back for a whole month. Most of that time I had fever, pain and a really bad cough. My lungs were stuffed. The doctor had to put me on antibiotics. Better now, but not fully recovered quite yet.
During that time one of my mission trips down river had been set several months back. I got the boat ready and had my backpack and gear setting by the back door. On the day of the trip I was really weak and dizzy, so I had to back down. Nevertheless, I encouraged Hudson, Ezi and Eliésio to go on without me. The river had come up a little, so they had clear sailing with my bigger boat. They visited 4 of our congregations and the church at Ipixuna. There were 4 professions of faith and good attendance. We have been working to get the church at Ipixuna involved in the mission work. They have finally caught the excitement and are visiting the works every month. They even bought one of Andrew’s boats and a new motor. We have been meeting with them regularly since 2009 to train them and get them going. It is finally working.
The Creiglows have started a new congregation across river at Miritizal, where they are pouring the slab for a building. Right now the congregation has about 20 baptized members. The attendance is in the 70s. They are still meeting in a nearby school and they hope to have them under roof before the rainy season.
Pastor Pedro is in southern Brazil for several months working on his masters degree. At present that leaves 4 of us to pastor First Baptist. One of the ministries that he took care of was couples. One of our elders is taking care of the events that were on the calendar. The general supervision and starting of new projects with the couples has come my way. We have started a new 4 week, 16 class course for the young couples who are engaged and about to marry. I invited several other young couples who are already married and 2 older couples (married longer) to take the classes as training for their marriages and as future teachers/counselors. This is a ton of work right now, but should make this kind of counseling lighter in the future.
Since our building is full and overflowing every Sunday night, we are now permitting our chapels to have services at 8:00PM Sundays. Up until now the 6 chapels only have services on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. I was at Avenida São Paulo for their first Sunday evening service. They had a really big crowd and 2 professions of faith. I spoke and coughed for 15 minutes, but the Lord got me through it and blessed.
Zico just got back from a visit to the works on the upper Moa River. All is well. The new building at the mountains is almost finished. Not being able to go on these trips is killing me!
We had another really good service on Sunday night. Overflow crowd and many visitors. This is normal. There were 3 people who had been out of church who came back, one request for baptism and 5 professions of faith. One couple (both are doctors) who I had invited were there for the first time. Many other first time visitors, again.
We have paid R$200.000,00 (about US$100,000.00) on the new property, so far. Still have another R$300.000,00 to go. Please pray. We need to finish paying off the 18 acres for our future expansion.
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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