Missionary Update: The Creiglows in Brazil [February 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.
Dear Brethren,
Our medical missions team just arrived from a long trip up the Juruá River. Hudson and I went up
river 5 days before the rest of the team.
Last year I had ordered lumber to build pews for our work in Tipisca, Peru. They only had a couple
of benches. The lumber I ordered was being used as improvised benches for the services. We
loaded up a bunch of my power tools and a generator and headed the 500km up stream. It rained for 2 days which brought the river way up. They only have lights for a few hours in the evening at Tipisca and it is 220volts. That is why I had to take the generator and all the power tools.
Bro. Mike Creiglow with his 9 year-old helper Carlos sitting on some of the pews they built at Tipisca, Peru.
Our missionary at Tipisca is Brother José Maia. He has a couple of Ashaninka Indian boys that do odd jobs for him. He had the younger brother, 9 year old Carlos, to help me. This kid is amazing! He is a hard worker and sharp as a tack. He watched me closely and would have tools, screws, glue, nails or whatever ready at each step of the process. I don’t speak much Spanish, but we got along just fine. We even had some good laughs. He was with me for at least 10 hours every day for 4 days. At the end of each day we would clean up the building; sweeping and mopping (on hands and knees). After all that he would still ask in Spanish, of course, “Quieres ayuda, Pastor?”
“Do you need help with anything else, pastor?” Wow! What a worker. We made 10 mahogany pews in 4 days. They are sanded and ready for varnish. Each night we had a few more seats for the services.
Our team arrived on day 6. This was the first time that we have had a medical team in a foreign country. We had 15 members. The great thing was that this was the first time after 17 years and over 40 clinics that all the members were just from our home church. We had 1 doctor, 2 dentists and 3 nurses on this team. We still have other nurses, 1 more doctor and 1 more dentist in our church. There are a doctor and 2 nurses in Tipisca. We included them in the project. They were amazed at the kindness and care our team gives. They were also astonished at the amount and variety of medicine that we have for the people.
The medical missions team
We cared for the folks and held services there for 3 days. Then we went back down river to Foz do Breu, on the Brazilian side for 2 more days. After that it was on to the village of Caipora for 2 more days of clinic before returning to Cruzeiro do Sul. No one was saved on this trip, but we cared for hundreds of bodies and shared the Gospel with many more. These projects cost a minimum of $10,000.00 each. Our folks here foot the bill. You’re allowed to help, too, if you like.
Dr. Suiane listening to a mom and her child at Caipora
We suffered through some extreme heat. One night was the hottest ever in my 52 years of life in the jungle. We were at Caipora. Camp was set up under a covered area, but no walls. At 3:00AM the generator was still running. The guys were playing games and telling jokes. It was too hot to sleep. Late that night I went out into the field to call Beverly on my satellite phone. There was a bright full moon, but it was just crazy hot! Sweat was dripping off my chin and rolling down my body. What I didn’t tell her at the time was that I was wearing only my underwear. Didn’t mean to spoil your day with that last line, but it REALLY was HOT! We are back in Cruzeiro and cold water never tasted so good. I’m already looking for an ice maker that I can hook up to my little generator.
Their nurse, Vieira, sorting medicine as the last day of the clinic began
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
Click here to donate to BFM.
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [December 2012]
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 4, 2012
Dear Brethren,
The problem is: What news to include and what to leave out?
The church at Assis Brasil celebrated her 50th anniversary with a conference mid November. They wanted Dad, the founder, to be the speaker, but he couldn’t be here. They had to settle for a second choice and second rate speaker: ME. The house was packed with over 400 present every night, but one.
The next night I preached at a meeting at our Cruzeirinho chapel.
I have been working day and night to get the steel structure and roof on the third floor of our annex. On the 15th, which was the same day as the anniversary at Assis Brasil, I had over 30 guys helping me put up the trusses. We wanted to have the roof on for our Thanksgiving dinner. On Thanksgiving day we had over 200 people setting up for the dinner while my crew was finishing up the roofing. I finished up the electrical at 7:00PM. I finished up my work, ran home to shave and shower and arrived back at church a half hour late. When I came up the last flight of stairs onto the terrace there were over 900 people sitting and standing around 200 tables. They were patiently waiting for me for Thanksgiving dinner to be served. This was the greatest Thanksgiving ever. It was a very emotional time. I spoke to the church for about 15 minutes then dinner was served. There was plenty to go around. Many of us were still there at 2:00 in the morning. I was the last person to leave and didn’t get to bed until after 3:00AM.
Singing at the 50th Anniversary Celebration in Assis
One weekend last month was visiting the church at Thaumaturgo, 300 KM up river. We dedicated a new work they started in a new location at the edge of town. They have a couple that they trained to take care of this new chapel. This trip was a real vacation for me. I preached 5 services in 3 days. There was time to prepare 2 lessons for here at my home church, too. That light of a schedule is a real vacation compared to the hours I have been putting in here in Cruzeiro do Sul. The church at Thaumaturgo continues to do very well though. The attendance is great, souls are being saved and their small groups are starting to take off.
We have had an extraordinary month here at First Baptist. There have been at least 13 professions of faith and about that many requests for baptism. Many who were out of fellowship have come back and several others have come confessing sin. I preached last Sunday night to an overflow crowd. There were 5 more saved in that service.
Celebrating 50 years at Assis!
Andrew leads the small group that Bev and I participate in. This is a couples group, so there are supposed to be no more than 7 couples. Last week we had 17 couples! We had a first time couple: the former governor and his wife. He has 2 kinds of cancer, just had some major surgery and is having chemo. He is a staunch Catholic. I have witnessed to him before. He is in São Paulo right now having another treatment, but he will be coming to our house when he gets back for us to have a serious talk about his soul. A few weeks ago, while he was in SP recovering from surgery, I gave him a call to let him know that the church was praying for him. Later I found out that he mentioned that call during an interview for a radio program. It must have made an impression. So pray for him, for his health and that I will be used to win him to Christ. One of his boys is already saved and baptized at our church. His youngest son is now attending church regularly and is part of our small group. The 2 boys’ wives are already saved and baptized, too.
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
Click here to donate to BFM.
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [November 2012]
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
Click here to donate to BFM.
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [March 2012]
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.
March 7, 2012
Dear Brethren,
One of my trips this month was much longer than usual, but was not a river trip. While still in the States I received an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a seminary in southern Brazil. At the time, I didn’t know that we were going to be in the States longer than anticipated, nor did I realize how cramped for time after returning to the field. Anyway, I took out 10 days to speak to an average of 200 students and local pastors at Maranatha Bible Institute in the state of Paraná. It was their 50th anniversary celebration. The conference was 4 days and I spoke 7 times. All the lessons and theme were from John 3:30. Although my speaking style is much different from what they are used to, I am hoping that the Holy Spirit uses it to enlarge His kingdom.
The return trip was exhausting. One 9-hour leg by bus, followed by a 15-hour flight from São Paulo to Rio Branco, and a 12-hour layover before the 1-hour flight home.
Things are going great here. There have been a number of folks saved and several requests for baptism. One couple from our small group was saved and made a profession of faith in the Friday night prayer meeting at church. My son Andrew is the leader of our group, which meets every 2 weeks. Andrew pastors me in this group. He also pastors my son-in-law, Dauro, who is one of our local pastors, too. The group is already twice as big as it is supposed to be. We usually have over 20 people.
We held our first baptism service of the year on March 3. There were 29 people baptized. One more person was saved and there were other requests for baptism the same day.
We are working hard on the annex. It is already in limited use. We can use the garage and some of the second floor. We have been in desperate need of more space for some time. I have been devoting quite a bit of my time to getting the next floor poured. As soon as that is finished I plan to build the metal structure and roof for the third floor. What we really need to do is relocate, so pray that something will open up.
We are praying for you. We know that things have become extremely tough financially in the US. I can definitely say that I feel your pain, because our support has dropped dramatically over the past 5 months. So, as God blesses you, please try to bring up or bring back your offerings to the General Fund of Baptist Faith Missions.
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
Click here to donate to BFM.
Read more
Missionary Update: Mike & Bev Creiglow in Brazil [January 2012]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. They serve at First Baptist Church in Cruzeiro do Sul, which Mike has pastored since 1978
January 9, 2012
Dear Brethren,
Home, at last! It has now been just over 3 weeks since we returned to Cruzeiro do Sul. I won’t bother you with the adventure that it was to get back home. It might scare some of you away, those of you who are considering a visit. We need your visit, so just let’s pretend that getting here is just a walk in the park.
The Christmas program was a huge success. The day after our arrival I was at church saw and hammer in hand. It was 10 straight days of long hours to get the stage and lighting ready, but we made it with a few hours to spare. We had overflow crowds for the 4 presentations. Although we did not have a public invitation, we still had 4 professions of faith, at least the ones that I witnessed personally after services.
A week later we had our New Year’s Eve service. Another overflow crowd. After the service, which ends sometime after midnight, Bev and I got together with family and friends for a meal. We finally got home after 3:00AM, tired and happy.
I have had 2 meetings with the leadership. The guys did an outstanding job and the church continued to grow. However, being away as long as I was, let a few things get out of focus. We will be working on getting things fine tuned again over the coming weeks and months.
In the last 27 days, since getting home we have had only 1 day without torrential rains. The river is almost out of its banks. Even so, we have had really good crowds in most services. On January 1 we had 3 professions of faith and last night we had 5 more. There had not been any in November and early December, so we are relieved that things are picking up again.
It has been 5 or 6 years (maybe more) since we started having an afternoon service to try to free up more space in our outgrown building. We have been trying all this time to get our regular members to make the switch to the afternoon service as to free up space for our visitors that come mostly to the night service. It has been a slow process. At first we had less than 100 people coming in the first service and always standing room only at night. Finally we are having about 500 in the afternoon. It is still full at night, but not always turning people away, so at long last we are getting a little relief. We had dozens of visitors last night. It crossed my mind that many pastors never spend 5 years in one place, yet they want things to change over night. Much prayer, patience and TIME is needed to see positive changes. A pat on the back to all you pastors who stick it out for the long haul. For those who are just getting started, hang in there, pray and be patient. The results will eventually come.
Last week was spent getting some of my equipment rebuilt, repaired and ready for the coming river trips. Tomorrow Hudson and I head up the Moa River. I’m pumped!
Please consider the 2 financial needs I mentioned last month: the renewal of the satellite phone and the purchase of the jet drive for the 25hp motor. The 2 items cost just over $2,000.00.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil
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