Mission Trip to Peru, Surgeries Scheduled
February 22, 2023
Dear Brethren,
Greetings from not so cold today Lexington, Kentucky. It has now been over a month that I arrived here for medical attention. Things have gone pretty well so far.
Before leaving home, I had confirmed my first visit of the year to our mission work in Peru. That didn’t quite work out as planned. Still there is good news. Our missions director, Zico took Pastor Benjamim (yes, that spelling is correct) with him and made the trip anyway. The church building was packed and they had a baptism, too.
Today is the final day of our first big youth camp of the year. Andrew is the leader of that ministry.
The last Sunday of January we had our “Ministry Fair”. This event is just as many ministries as possible setting up displays and recruiting new help for the year ahead. Our church has an average of 70% of the membership involved in some kind of ministry or service. We are so thankful that the Lord has made this happen. It is why so much gets accomplished. Sharing the workload across the membership has made it a joy to pastor.
My oldest son Adam and his wife Suzy came over from California to visit. Also, my grandson Caleb came in from Indiana. I am staying with my daughter Monica and granddaughter Isabella here in Lexington, Kentucky. We all went over to visit my Dad and his wife Lois last night. Dad is now 96. He is not in the greatest health. He is still very much alive and has not lost his sense of humor. Last night he was in great form. He told a bunch of stories. We had some really good laughs and shed many a tear. Dad and I have 90+ years of missions combined between us. One date that he and I share is January 29. He was baptized on that day in 1956. I surrendered to be a missionary on that same date in 1966. Great times. Wonderful blessings.
My first surgery is scheduled for tomorrow February 23. Please continue to pray for all of my treatment. I will have a second surgery on March 6. There will be other doctor visits and procedures along the way.
Since the treatment is going well into March I have accepted an invitation to attend the Baptist Faith Missions Spring Missions Conference in Ohio on March 31 and April 1. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Mission Work on the Moa River
June 8, 2022
Dear Brethren,
Here is some news about the mission work on the Moa River. Zico (our mission director) went with me to visit 3 of our congregations on the Moa River a few weeks ago.
Our first stop was at the very last village on the Moa. There is a low range of mountains called Serra do Moa and sometimes Serra do Divisor. The latter because the hills follow the western border between Peru and Brazil. My last report was about our visit to the southern border.
As usual, got there under a tropical rainstorm. Again, as usual, after a long winding river trip we had services that night. This time we went further upriver in a dugout canoe to the home of one of the families who are part of our congregation. We left just after dark. It was misting. There was plenty of lightning and a stiff wind. Even so, people came from all around. We had over 50 people present. Quite a few were in chairs, others standing, and most were sitting on the floor. In this kind of setting, I sit and teach them.
Rivaldo and Leila are our missionaries there. He was our second full time missionary sent back in the early 90’s. He is my age and still going strong. We held a couple more services there before starting back downstream.
Next stop: Nukini Indian reservation at República. Our missionary there is Aldenísio. They just built a new church building and parsonage. They did a really good job with both. They have also started some new preaching points on República River and other locations on the reservation. We held services there on Saturday and Sunday. After the morning service I baptized 11.
Our last stop was a surprise visit to the church at São Salvador. The village has seen some major growth. There are now over 300 people there. Unfortunately, the church has taken a Pentecostal twist. The women have pretty much taken over and “spiced” things up. Over the last few months, they have loaded up the whole church and made a number of trips. These aren’t mission trips though. They are just social events. So, I have been trying to woo them back to sound doctrine. The pastor there is Francisco, better known by his nickname “Pipi”. The services were much more orderly than the last time I had been with them. We had a great visit, and I am encouraged.
Here in town at First Baptist, things are looking up. Our attendance is now averaging over a thousand every Sunday. We have had people saved every week. Several more were baptized, too. Still not back to pre-pandemic levels, but steadily improving.
Thanks for all your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Baptism of Nukinis 
Nukini Indian Kids 
The congregation at the Nukini reservation in front of their new building on Sunday morning. 
Nukini Indian Kids 
Zico and Mike with Rivaldo and Leila at Serra do Moa
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
The Lord at Work in Tipisca, Peru
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.
March 21, 2019
Dear Brethren,
A few days ago Zico (our missions director) and Lúcio Maia went with me up river to the border and beyond. The first leg of the trip took us all the way to the border village of Foz do Breu. It took us over 11 hours to do those almost 300 miles. We had some engine trouble, but still made it before dark.
People are moving back to the village and we had really good crowds for the services, over 70 people. Before heading into Peru we held a morning baptism service. I baptized 12. One couple had been waiting for some time to first get legally married then baptized. Ercílio had been one of the town drunks and enemy of the gospel. Now he is a go-getter missionary. He has made 22 mission trips in the last 12 months. He used to detest the native tribes up the Breu River. Now he has become friends and has made 5 mission trips to visit our brothers from the Kaxinauá tribe.
We continued to Tipisca, Peru. On arrival, our missionary José Maia (Lúcio’s dad) took our baggage to his house on his 4 wheeler. I stayed behind to get the boat and motor bedded down. Just as I finished, a huge tropical rain storm came in. There is no pavement in Tipisca and this time of year the mud is knee deep in many places. When I saw the rain was not going to stop I decided to go ahead and make my way up the slippery bank and into town through the driving rain and mud. I had to go barefoot and on the way I slit my foot open on who knows what. For the rest of that week my feet were wet and muddy most of the time and could not bandage the foot. A week later it had pretty much healed up though, so no harm no foul.
We dedicated the new building on the weekend. José Maia did an admirable job and built the building to match the design we use all over in our congregations. It seats over 100 people, is on a corner lot, right on the main street of Tipisca. This newly purchased lot and what we already had, gives us over an acre. We had over 200 people in at least 2 services and well over a hundred in the other 2. The army brought most of their soldiers out for 1 service and the local police department came on Sunday morning. This is a first. In fact we had never had crowds like this in the several years since we opened the work there (over 10 years). Up to now we had made inroads among the children, but no progress with the adults. They now have a big group of kids and a number of adults that attend regularly.
Let me tell you about one of the ladies who trusted Christ while we were there. Dona Mila and her husband are in their 70’s and were what you might call founders of Tipisca. She was born over on the coast of Brazil and moved to Cruzeiro do Sul as a little girl. Her husband is Peruvian and was working in our town as a young man. They met and married. When the Peruvian government put in an outpost a few miles up the Juruá River from the border the young couple moved there. This became the town of Porto Breu, which the locals call Tipisca. Dona Mila and her husband were drinking buddies. It was not uncommon to see the couple sleeping off their liquor in the grass along the paths of town. They were both at church with us. Both have stopped drinking and Dona Mila has trusted Christ!
We came all the way back to Cruzeiro do Sul in one long day, but not without more engine trouble. I had to stop in the middle of nowhere and repair the motor at high noon, lots of bugs and mud, too. This motor is now over 10 years old and broken down on me on my last 3 trips. It is about time to replace it. I will be looking to you to help me with this in the near future. For now, just pray.
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
God is Opening Doors with the Hunikuim People
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.
February 9, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Pastor Ezi and Zico (our missions coordinator) went with me to the upper Juruá River a couple of weeks ago. We spent 8 days visiting seven works and as many of our missionaries. We traveled over 600 miles on two rivers. The names of the places and people probably won’t mean anything to you, so I will skip right to the highlights. All of our missionaries reported and showed us first hand some good solid growth at each congregation.
At Foz do Breu (Mouth of the Breu River) on the Peruvian border we were pleased to find out that a few of the families who had left the village have now come back. Attendance has come back up. Our missionary there, José Costa, has gotten the congregation into a steady rhythm of mission trips. They have 3 teams that alternate visits to 3 villages downstream from them. Just last month 4 more were saved at Pedra Pintada. We had great services with good crowds. On Sunday morning I baptized 8.
On our visit to Tipisca, Peru we got to see José Maia’s excitement at making the first breakthroughs. Besides the Peruvians in the town there are 5 other ethnic groups and languages. Everyone is dirt poor. All there is to do is drink, drugs and prostitution. The children in the town have been the open door to the gospel. José and Silvânia have been working with about 40 children every day, sometimes all day and into the night. It was fun to watch Silvânia playing soccer with the kids at the end of the day behind the church building. Now some adults are coming around. Some of the kids are already saved and 2 adults, also.
As I have reported before the doors have finally opened up for us to reach the Hunikuim people on the Breu River. This tribe is called Kaxinauá (bat people) by most folks. They, however, call themselves Hunikuim which means the “original People” Their language is called Hanchakuim or language of THE people. We visited the São José village over 50Km up river from the Juruá, inland and east. This section had to be navigated by canoe.
The visit there was just crazy from start to finish. We were informed ahead of time to not take anything out of the canoe, because the Indians wanted to carry everything for us. The whole village was gathered at the river. They were dancing and shouting to welcome us. The men had their headdresses and paint on. The women were painted and dressed in long colorful skirts and blouses. The women had long decorated paddles that they were smacking together, too. I was the first one to set foot on land. When I reached the top of the bank 2 of the girls grabbed each of my hands while wielding those paddles and led me to their great house. I had no idea what was going on or what might happen. The village all came into the great house to welcome us and explain the local “telephone” system. They have these horns made of bamboo, armadillo tails and bees wax. They have different calls for meal time and meeting time. The Hunikuim love to eat and meet. Seems they are born “almost Baptists”!
The food, by the way, was pretty good. The hunting party came in with some monkeys, so that is what we had for the first dinner. I got a piece of neck, which was tough, but tasty. Most Baptist preachers should be able to see the hidden significance of that.
At the first service, more surprises. During the song service, in their language and to their kind of music, a group of the women and girls came into the great house and began to dance. They started out a kind of line dance, which morphed into a circle after several minutes. Then suddenly one of them reached out and pulled me into the circle. This may be a step too far, but try to imagine me trying to follow their steps and swinging arms while going around in circles. Well with that last sentence I probably lost all of my support! The headline, “missionary caught on camera dancing with a bunch of women, none of whom are his wife.” Well when the song mercifully ended, most of the congregation had been dragged into the circle.
After that I preached about the lost sheep in Luke 15. The chief’s brother interpreted for me. A few of those present had already been saved. Cosma and her brother Bibiano had been won through José Maia’s ministry. The chief and his brother had also been saved later. There were 6 other professions of faith. After the next service, the following morning, I baptized 8 of them.
There are 5 villages of Hunikuim on the Breu River. The head chief over all of them is called Zeca. He is not saved, but came around to tell me that the whole tribe has approved our presence in their villages to preach the gospel. What a turnaround. Just a few short years ago a judge ordered us out. Now the people have invited us back in. Their rule supersedes Brazilian court rulings. The same is happening in other tribes all around us and doors continue to open. Invitations are coming in from all around. This is exciting stuff. Please pray for us as we try to keep pushing the gospel to the most remote places on earth.
They have invited me to come back in March when they plan to gather the other villages for a 3 day meeting. Now here is where you come in with more than your prayers. This last trip cost me over $600.00 just in gasoline. I had to buy an extra 4 gallons of fuel at one of the villages. That was at $10.00 per gallon. Please keep me supplied with fuel and equipment. As long as my health permits I want to continue to reach as many people as possible, no matter how far or difficult it may be.
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
Visiting Works in Gama, Santa Rosa, & Centrinho
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.
December 9, 2017
Dear Brethren,
Greetings from Cruzeiro do Sul. The rainy season has finally started for real and the river is up pretty high. It is time to get back on the river with some of the visits to our works a little further away.
Taking advantage of the prolonged dry season, I visited several works along the roads. Zico, Ezi and I visited the new work at Gama. While there I built the first trusses for their building. I took one of our men along to teach him how to build the rest. We are still praying for a couple to move there to take care of the work. Access is easy in the dry season. There is a 30 mile dirt road that winds through the jungle to the Gama River. In the rainy season the only vehicles that can get through are ATVs and with much effort and frustration!
I visited the work at Santa Rosa. We held one of our preachers meetings while I was there. The church is doing well. The pastor is Brother Sadraque. He is a young local who was saved and called right there. He accepted the pastorate after the last pastor left unexpectedly. That was a couple of years ago. Since then Sadraque has done a good job and the church has almost doubled in size. I have been working with him over the last few months to get him through a problem. He feels that he is in the position only temporarily. It still hasn’t soaked in that God put him there.
Bev went with me to visit the work at Centrinho for a weekend meeting. Pastor Marcelo and his wife Neire serve there. They have about 40 people. There were over 70 present for the services while we were there. They meet in a little wooden building, but doing well and growing slowly.
We had another baptism at church this month adding another 38 members.
Our seminary closed out the semester late November with 22 students attending classes. We offered 6 modules this last semester. I taught Bible geography. Lot of fun.
The violence here has gone down a little, but is still rampant. The state AG just put out the stats. Two things are worth quoting. First, the murder rate per 100,000 population is 56. Then if the State of Acre were an independent country it would be the 4th most violent country in the world. He went on to say that a person is more likely to be murdered in the Acre than in Syria. To top it off, the bad guys are now stopping boats on the river to rob and murder their victims. When our members heard about my next trip up river they were concerned. I can’t let this stop me though. Unfortunately, Brazil has the strictest gun laws in the world and I cannot have a weapon. The bad guys all have guns though. In a referendum 95% of the population wants the right to own a gun. Socialism is what it is though and there is not much hope for improvement here.
I am still dealing with health issues. I have continued to work long hard days, but it has not been easy. Not sure that the doctors here are going to find out what ails me. Please continue to pray.
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
Snapshots from works along the Juruá River
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 10, 2017
Dear Brethren,
March Madness? I missed most of it since I was up river on a long mission trip. You won’t hold that against me, will you?
The river is very high right now, so travel is a bit easier. My bigger boat has a top and windshield, which make things much better, too. Three of our men went with me. Zico (our missions director), Rondisson (one of our chapel pastors) and Sisnando, a young man who just got to go on his very first mission trip. Our visits were to Porto Walter, Triunfo, Foz do Breu, Thaumaturgo and Tipisca in Peru. All of these locations are on the Juruá River. We travelled 625 miles. We used 95 gallons of gasoline at $6.70 per gallon. The trip cost just under $640.00. Gasoline here in town is a little cheaper, but I can now gas up at 2 of the towns upstream. That makes it possible to travel lighter, but pushes the cost up. The weather was perfect. We didn’t have any muddy river banks. There weren’t too many bloodsucking insects. Best of all though is that all the works are doing well. We had one profession of faith. I also baptized 6 at Foz do Breu on the border.
Tipisca is still a tough place, but showing signs of getting better. One of Damiana’s brothers, Bibiano and his wife Eva have been saved and are being trained by our missionary José Maia and his wife, Silvânia. Bibiano’s family is from the Kaxinauá tribe (pronounced kah-shee-now-ah). This name was given to them many years ago by the white folks. It means “bat people”. Nobody remembers why. The real name amongst the tribe is Hunikuim (pronounced hu-nee-ku-een) which means “the true people”. They see themselves as the “real” humans and then there are all the others. They see themselves as the “Jews” and all the rest of us are the “Gentiles”. Anyway, there have been 15 of the “real people” saved over the last few months. We now have a new missionary from their own people, who we brought from the Purús region to work with them. We now have regular preaching points at 3 of the 5 villages on the Breu River. The other 2 villages are now open and inviting Fredi and José Maia to preach to them, too. Fredi has worked very hard to win his own people and the results are coming in. He has also worked with the other tribes in and around Tipisca to get the gospel to them. As I walk around the small town of Tipisca I hear a little Spanish, a smattering of Portuguese, but mostly 5 other Indian languages. The town has grown to about a thousand people. However, the cultural, moral and linguistic jumble is a huge barrier to the gospel.
The work here in Cruzeiro do Sul is thriving. The construction of our rebuild and expansion is progressing slowly. The finish work on the annex is moving along in its final stages. The building continues to fill up every week. Our children’s services, both morning and evening have grown. Since we have added extra rooms in the annex, this has given more space in the main building for adults and youth. It will soon be overflowing again, by God’s grace. We will need the new balconies that are in the project very soon. The economic crisis in Brazil has really held us back, but God will supply. Several more have been saved. Others have come back to church. We even have had several new members by letter, which is rather unusual here.
My son-in-law, Pastor Dauro, has malaria again and some of my other pastors have been off on other projects. That means that I have been doing much of the preaching and teaching. I work on the buildings by day and teach at night. Long hours, but fun. My health has been great and have been feeling fine, so all is well here in our tropical paradise. Keep praying, though. Need it always.
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
A Visit to the Works on the Moa River
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.
March 15, 2017
Dear Brethren,
A few weeks ago Zico (our missions director) and I went to visit our works on the Moa River. The rainy season has been, well, REALLY rainy. The river broke all high-water records since they started keeping records. We put our boat in at Mâncio Lima to start out on the Japiim River. They just put in a really nice ramp there. All of this saves about 2 hours travel time. We had absolutely perfect weather for the whole trip. We didn’t get rained on at all. Yet it was overcast, so we did not get burned. The temps even dropped down into the low 80’s. No insects, no mud and plenty of wild game to eat. Thank the Lord for putting me in paradise. We had above average crowds at all the services. Since I had not visited the Nukini tribe and the folks at the mountains for several months, I decided to do more teaching than usual. Our missionary, Aldenísio, continues to do evangelism in the villages between the congregations.
The congregation near the mountains on the Moa River on a Sunday morning.
Our first youth camp of the year happened from February 24 through March 1. We were able to build one more cabin for the guys. Recently we have been having more guys than gals. We can now handle about 120 people at Camp Salém. There were 4 teens saved and a number of other important decisions were made, 20 in all. My son Andrew and his team take care of this ministry.
The kids getting ready to sing during the service.
We just had our first baptism and Lord’s Supper service at church. 30 more were added by baptism. We have also had several new members join by letter. The other side of that coin though is the fact that we constantly lose members who move away. One of our best group leaders moved to the state of Goiás. One of our keyboard musicians passed his engineering entrance exam at the federal university in Rio Branco. One of our guitar players moved to France! These and many others are saved and trained here at First Baptist Church….then off they go to serve in other cities, states or even other countries. It is sad, but we are glad to prepare folks to serve in other fields.
Since the modifications on the building, which increased our seating capacity, we have been filling those extra seats almost every week. We have continued to see people saved every week this new year. Last week 8 were saved and this week 3 more.
HELP! My satellite phone subscription renewal hit my credit card this year and it more than doubled! Last year was only a little more than $500.00. Not bad to have this essential tool for my mission trips deep into the jungle. This year they charged me $1,170.00!!! That hurt. Help me if you can.
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
Progress in the Village of Gama, Praying for Permanent Missionary
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.
October 12, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Well it has been a while. Bev and I took a month off for a much needed vacation. We just arrived back from the States. This time we went through Peru to catch our flight out of Lima. Now that many of our flights in Brazil have been cancelled due to the economy it was closer and cheaper to go through Peru. Part of this trip was by car from Rio Branco to Puerto Maldonado, Peru. A nice adventure overall. I like Peru and the lovely people there. Great visit with family, friends and churches in the US. Would have been nice to see many more of you, but time was short.
Before the trip Stateside I made a last minute visit to one of our newest mission points. Gama is in the state of Amazonas. It is on a tributary of the Boa Fé River (Good Faith River). To get there by river is a long hard trip. Down the Juruá River for almost a day, then up the Boa Fé for a day to the Generoso creek. Only a couple more hours up this small stream sits the village of Gama. There are over 300 people living there. However, now there is a dirt road through the jungle that is open in the dry season. That is how I went this time. It is “only” 30 miles from Cruzeiro do Sul by road. I have never been on this so called road in the rainy season and can only imagine the mess. It is all red clay and sand, with many stream crossings.
We have taken our doctors and dentists there twice now. Our evangelists make regular visits. Zico (our missions director) managed to locate and purchase a nice big lot to put up our first building there. While I was there we laid out the plot. While I was in the States some of our bricklayers went up with Zico to dig the foundations and start laying brick. Zico has been great with all the work, but it is outstanding to see how he gets and keeps things rolling even when I am away. I don’t even know how he raised the money to start the building! Since we are on the subject, if you would like to chip in with a little extra offering, make your self right at home. We still don’t have the permanent missionary for this new field, but are praying that the Lord will raise up one soon.
Also, while we were away the church here continued to grow. 25 new members were added by baptism in September. I preached this last Sunday to a packed house. There were two young women who had been saved for a while, but not yet baptized that presented themselves. We also took up the first of a couple special offerings for our next big building project. More about that later.
Our youth have had to spit up into different age groups. We have a big group 12 through 14. The middle bunch is the biggest. They are 15 through 24. (This works in our town, for now, but must sound like a strange grouping to you in the States). The newest group is singles from 25 years old and up. They just had their first retreat with 25 at Camp Salem.
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
