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.

November 5, 2012

Dear Brethren,

Many of you may know that we have had a local TV program for over 22 years. We have our own little studio and every Tuesday or Thursday night a couple of young men from church help me record and edit a half hour program. Many people watch the program that airs every Saturday and Sunday morning. They tell me and thank me. Many would never come to church, but they still tell me how much they enjoy it. There haven’t been many to come out and profess trust in Christ. Last week though I had some great news. At 6:30AM as I was getting the building open to start work a young man stopped by and introduced himself. He is one of two sons of the former mayor of Porto Walter. The mayor and his 2 boys were arrested and convicted of corruption and were in the local penitentiary. Demerval thanked me for the program. He said that he, his brother and dad watched every weekend and all three were saved while in there. He said, “When I went in, I thought I knew who Jesus was, but I didn’t know Him. Because of the messages that we heard now we KNOW Him!” Our teams that visit the prison every week took care of them while they served their time. All 3 are now free and I hope that they will get in church at Porto Walter.

We had a great baptism service last month. 24 new members. We have had a few other new members by church letter, too. Last Sunday we had 5 more people saved.

Zico and I took off for a visit to Porto Walter a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t quite make it. We had been on the river for over 4 hours and were just about an hour away when we had engine trouble. A very major tropical storm had been stalking us for over 2 hours. We had been through the edges of it because of the horseshoe bends of the river. At 5:30 it got ahead of us. Right then the motor banged a stump and started to vibrate. I thought, “There goes the brand new prop.”

When I stopped at a beach to check it out I discovered that the lower motor mount had broken and fallen off. No way to buck the current and continue up stream. Thank the Lord and Park Ridge Baptist Church for the satellite phone. Just as the storm slammed us I was able to warn Bev and the folks at Porto Walter that we were not going to be able to make it. What next? The engine was purring nicely and could turn the prop at idle speed, but nothing more. I asked Zico what he would rather do: find a house to spend the night or poke along until we eventually got back to Cruzeiro do Sul. He said, “Let’s go home.” The storm passed and the moon came out for a while. My really good and powerful flashlight helped us thread our way through all the stumps and shallows. It took us 10 hours and we arrived back in Cruzeiro at 3:30AM. After a couple of hours of sleep I got up and went to church for Sunday morning services. Zico was beat and didn’t make it to the first service of the day! I am grateful for the good health, stamina and drive that the Lord has given me.

Please pray for my safety and those who are working with me on the annex. We are putting up the steel structure for the third floor. I built and erected the columns. Today I will finish the last steel truss. Later this week we hope to get them up and the roof on no later than the 15th. I promised the church that I would build all this stuff myself to save them some money. Just this one job is a savings of $22,000.00. The church and Bev worry about my safety, which is understandable. The hours have been long for many weeks. I start my day at 5:00AM with prayer and devotion with several church members. Then it is work from dawn to dark. I have to keep up all my teaching and preaching, too, so pray for me.

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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