Back Home in Brazil; Pray for Andrew
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.
July 31, 2019
Dear Brethren,
Well Bev and I finally made it back to Cruzeiro do Sul. It seems like every time we try to get home, we have some big adventure. What should only take us 2 days always ends up being 5 or even a week! I won’t bore you with the blow by blow. We are just really glad to be home.
Of course, when you are away from your “stuff” for a few weeks, the “stuff” gets messed up. The batteries on my jeep and motorcycle both gave up the ghost. I went everywhere in town and couldn’t even find a battery for the motorcycle. Not even available in the capital, Rio Branco. So, much of my daytime hours have been spent trying to get things up and running again.
Things at church are going great though. My first week back, they had me very busy. On Sunday morning I did a “Sermon in a Sack” for the little ones. This was done in the main auditorium. The adults enjoy this almost as much as the kids. Then I had all the youth and adults for a lesson about some basics for the family. It was VERY basic, but when I finished, they responded with loud applause. This happens now and then, but always catches me off guard. I preached the evening service and there was one lady coming to move her letter from a church in Rio Branco and three people were saved.
We have been able to do a few little things on the building. Right now, we are really concentrating on paying off a few bills from the first stage of the rebuild.
Please pray for my son Andrew. He is back in Manaus and it looks like he will be having major surgery again. He has seen at least 4 doctors already and will be seeing another tomorrow. His body produces stones in his liver. He has had a number of procedures. He had major surgery in 2015 and we almost lost him. I was with him through the whole ordeal. If he does have to go through another surgery, I will be going to Manaus to be with him again. He does not have any kind of insurance. The socialized medicine (Brazil’s version of Obamacare) doesn’t work. Please 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
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Celebrating the Church’s 90th Birthday in New Building with New Professions of Faith!
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.
June 18, 2019
Dear Brethren,
For a long time, we have known that we needed to expand our facilities if we wanted to continue to absorb growth. To that end we built a new steel building over the top of our old building. That was the easy part. Getting up the gumption to tear down the old building and rebuild was the hard part. It had to be done though, so on January 13th we held our last service in the old building. From there on out we held services on the third floor of the annex.
On January 18th we started the demolition. The goal was to move back in by the church’s birthday on May the 12th. Those four months were intense, to say the least. I only made three mission trips during that period. For the whole time I worked 10 to 18-hour days. Naturally, I caught a lot of grief from my wife (not so much because of the long hours), but because from time to time I was 30 feet above the ground in the rafters. The Lord protected us all and there were no serious accidents or injuries.
On May the 10th we held a three-day meeting to celebrate the church’s 90th birthday. Brother Joe Brandon organized the church with 13 members on May 12, 1929. Today the church has well over 1600 members including those who are in our 9 chapels here in town. Pastor David Hatcher was our guest speaker. On Saturday we had our annual pastors and missionaries meeting with over 100 workers present.
Our former seating capacity was 830. The goal was to double that with the new building. We put every available bench, pew and chair in there. We still had room for another 200 seats. We filled the building every night. The guys who take care of stats for me counted over 1400 on Sunday night. The best thing though was that during the meeting there were 24 professions of faith.
A few months ago, I designed the new pews for our new building. We managed to get 8 of those finished for the church to see in time for the anniversary services. We will be building over 100 of these to be able to fill those extra spaces and replace some of the older pews. I am telling this mostly for the following reason: I told the church that once we got moved back in, I was going to take off a month and rest. So just before I left Cruzeiro do Sul, I stretched out on one of the new pews to begin my rest!
Bev and I have been in the States for almost a month. We will be returning to Brazil on June 20. I still have most of the finish work on the building awaiting me besides 3 other building projects, not to mention all the other regular jobs that I must keep up with. So, pray and rejoice with us about all the great things that are happening in Cruzeiro do Sul.
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
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Going Back in Time
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.
I really didn’t know what I was getting into when I came to Brazil in June of 1971. I tell everyone that I went back 50 years in time when I arrived in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre. I grew up with running water, indoor bathroom, hot water from the faucet, buying almost anything needed, electricity 24 hours, etc. I came to a town with no running water, no hot water, and electricity only in the middle of town at night for a few hours. To buy most anything, it was a hassle, especially meat.
The first few years were pretty difficult, Mike traveled a lot. I knew very little Portuguese. We walked in a lot of mud those first several years! God knew I would need my first born, Adam, to occupy my time. Today much has changed. We have very nice supermarkets, 24-hour electricity (most of the time), and paved roads, even though they are full of holes! We have internet and cell phones.
When it came time for my kids to go to public school, for a while it was fine. After they started insisting that the students bring items for the saint’s holiday, that began our search for a way to home school them. Thankfully a church in Missouri bought the books for this to happen. All of my children homeschooled then went on to get their GED or equivalent and further education. Their social life was at church. Most of their friends were from church. That’s a very important detail.
Adam is an IT manager in the California court system. He has two grown daughters. Monica is manager of a law firm in Lexington and has a young daughter. Andrew started and owns a boat factory, but because of the poor economy, he is also a shop manager of a regional airline. He has two daughters and two sons. Crissy has her own English school and is married to one of our pastors. She has three sons and one daughter. Andrew and Crissy live across the street from us and I usually get visits from my grandkids once a day!
I wasn’t able to go with Mike on his river trips while our children were at home and at school. Now that they are out and on their own, I am able to go with Mike on a few trips. My arthritis limits my activities. Now on most of his longer river trips men go with him. My most important job now is supporting him and caring for his needs.
I cannot see Mike retiring. He doesn’t know how to stop! If he doesn’t retire, I guess neither do I.
Keep us in your prayers,
Beverly
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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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
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God is at Work in Cruzeirão, Cruzeirinho, Cruzeiro do Sul, & Assis!
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.
November 23, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Last month Beverly and I went to Assis, Brasil, for the ordination service of Pastor Eliésio De Oliviera. He has been pastor at First Baptist Church for over 16 years. When he was in high school, he was a member of our church and after graduation he went to seminary in Belém, Pará. When he returned he went straight into the pastorate. He has been on many mission trips with me and has been a great colleague in the Kingdom. The church asked me to perform his ordination. Four other pastors helped out.
We went back 2 more times to Assis, Brasil, to attend their 56th anniversary conference. I spoke at the opening then closed out the meeting on a Sunday night. This conference was really special as the church had just moved into their new building and I was honored to do the dedication. They had huge crowds all 4 nights. I don’t know how many people the building will seat, but it is several hundred. There was one profession of faith and a number of other decisions.
We had our last baptism of the year here at First Baptist in Cruzeiro do Sul. We added 31 new members. This month we lost 2 more really faithful families who were transferred to other cities. We did gain 2 more families though. Our growth is very slow because of all the folks who move away. We are grateful for the growth we have though.
Bev and I also visited the work at Cruzeirão. They are in a small building that seats about 150 people. They had to have most of the members go outside to free up seats for visitors. I closed out a month of lessons on the family with them. I shared the gospel, too. There were a couple of professions of faith.
I made a visit to Cruzeirinho, also. We had our first big rain that night, so the crowd was down a little, but still they had over 100 people.
If you are confused about all this “Cruzeiro” stuff, here is a quick explanation. The name of our city is Cruzeiro do Sul which means Southern Cross. Most people in the region just call it Cruzeiro. Then Cruzeirão means “big Cruzeiro”, but not because it is bigger than Cruzeiro do Sul. Rather it is near our soccer stadium, which is called Cruzeirão. Cruzeirinho means “little Cruzeiro” and it really is little!
Our church has had to celebrate Thanksgiving in our small groups for the past several years. Years ago, we tried to find places to have the whole church together, but it was just too big and even expensive. My small group, which is way overdue for what we call multiplication, had 51 people for our dinner.
On November 27th I will be taking my son Andrew to Manaus for yet another surgery. He has been really ill and the doctors discovered that he has several stones in his liver. One of these is 3/8th of an inch in diameter and has caused excruciating pain and other symptoms. We have been able to see doctors and get some basic tests done, although the local hospital is basically shut down right now. The state has not paid doctors, nurses or other help for the last few months. Andrew does not have any kind of insurance, so we will be paying everything out of pocket. Please pray for him and the procedures.
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
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Ladies Retreat at Acampamento Salém; Ordination in Assis
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.
September 12, 2018
Dear Brethren,
My routine is pretty much back to normal, but according to Beverly I am taking on more than I should. Since our return I have been able to get my diet back in shape and have shed 18 lbs. Every day I try to get in a 4 or 5 mile walk/run. Feeling much better already.
We had our first baptism since getting home. Fourteen new members were added to the church. There have been a few people saved in the last 6 weeks and some other new members added by letter.
Bev and I visited the church at Assis, Brasil. The pastor there is Eliésio Oliveira. He is a local guy who was a member of our church when he was in high school. He spent 4 years in Belém, Pará while in seminary. His home church called him to be pastor as soon as he returned. He has done a great job and is on board with missions. We have travelled together on many mission trips. I am to be with them next month to lead in his ordination service. Then in November I am to return for the dedication of their brand new building, which is still under construction.
I have held 2 meetings with 2 other churches in the area over the past few days. One was at Igreja Batista Elim and the other at Igreja Batista Esperança.
Bev got on my case because I have been either preaching or teaching somewhere every night. One or 2 nights a week I record TV programs. Then there are our services and classes at First Baptist. Besides these I have been accepting quite a few invitations to speak at other churches. She is looking out for me and my health, but I had to remind her that these things are “sortta” what I am called to do!
Bev’s mom passed away last week, so Bev had to turn around and return to the States. The funeral was this last Saturday. Bev is helping deal with some other family issues. We still don’t know when she will be able to come home. Please pray for her and the family. God’s timing is always amazing.
Ladies Retreat at Acampamento Salém
The ladies of our church held their regular September retreat at our camp (Acampamento Salém). The ladies ministry team is about 15-20 women. Not counting the team, there were over 200 women present. I don’t know how they do it. We really only have room for about 120 people in the cabins. It is summer time here (dry season – although it is actually winter now in the southern hemisphere), so many of them camped out in tents.
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
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Back in Brazil; Picking Up the Pace on TV Ministry
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 15, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Bev and I were in the States for 2 months. During that time, I had several medical procedures. I was also able to get some needed rest. We left the US on July 16th. It took us almost a week to get home. There were all kinds of delays, layovers and missed flights. The craziest trip ever. We are home though and back in the routine.
Since I had been away for so long, the other pastors needed some time off or had other places to be, so I have been taking care of much more than usual. The weekends have been really busy. I have also started back on some of our construction projects, although I am not doing any of the physical stuff just yet. My recovery period from the surgery was just finished this week. I have been getting my diet back in order and have been getting a 3-mile walk/run in every day. I have lost over 10 lbs. already. Have been feeling much better. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me.
We have picked up the pace on our TV ministry. I have been recording 2 programs a week. Several things needed to be revamped. I made homemade teleprompters, but recently we did not have the right software and one of the monitors was down. That has all been repaired. We also didn’t have a countdown clock. I solved that by just using an app on my iPad. The programs are 30 minutes. They are aired locally every Saturday and Sunday morning. We have been on the air for almost 30 years. We still have some work to do on the studio set, lighting and a chromakey setup. I have a team of 8 young men who help with all the media activities. They are getting us set up to have pages on Instagram and Facebook. Soon we will have a YouTube channel also. Live streaming is not far away, Lord willing.
I have had some pretty significant dates in my life during this year. On February 14th I turned 70. On May 4th I celebrated 60 years as a child of the King. Then just a few days ago, on August 6th I completed 40 years as pastor of First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul. On that Monday, for some reason, I didn’t get to go on my daily afternoon walk. Instead Bev and I were in the porch swing enjoying the beautiful evening when a large group of church members came in to serenade me and bring gifts. What an honor!
There is quite a bit of great news coming from the mission field around us, but I am saving that for my next report.
For now, though I just want to thank all of you who have been so kind, thoughtful and supportive during these last few months. They have been trying to me, but you have been there for me and the work here. Thanks to BFM for helping us out with tickets and keeping up our insurance. Thanks to others who helped out financially, too. Thanks to all who have prayed. Please continue. I really want to continue to serve at full capacity until He comes.
Thanks again 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
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Headed Home after a Couple Months in the States
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.
July 13, 2018
Dear Brethren,
On May 1st I was visiting our church at Santa Rosa. They were celebrating their 19th anniversary. The house was full and overflowing. Really enjoyed preaching to them. During the message some of our members noticed that my voice sounded different. The next day I was down with the flu. I already had some other health issues, so this really hit me hard.
Two weeks later I was still down while our church was having her missions conference and 89th birthday celebration. I missed out on all the fun. Sunday morning, I missed out on the Lord’s supper and baptism. In fact, I was supposed to baptize my granddaughter Melany. Instead my son-in-law performed the baptism. We added 37 new members.
The next day Bev and I went on a 3-day journey to the United States. We have been here for almost 2 months. Since arriving I have been treated by 9 doctors and countless nurses. I have had 2 surgeries and a bunch of other procedures. My recovery period will be finished in another month. On Monday, July 16th we will be returning to Brazil, God willing.
Many of you knew about this and Bev and I are so grateful to all who have helped in so many ways. For those of you who knew nothing about all of this, let me reassure you that all is well, as far as I know! To all of you: I will not bore you with all the details about the stuff that has been bothering me. Just pray that I will be well enough to carry on what God has called me to do. Once again, thanks to all.
While here in the States I have been able to get some much needed rest. Most of the time I have been reading, walking and watching the World Cup! However, I have been in touch with many of our workers and leaders scattered over a wide area down home. Things are going pretty good. In fact, the church baptized another group of over 30 new members. They also had our annual month of intense Bible study, Scripture memorization and personal evangelism. More about that later. I have even been doing marriage counseling online!
Thanks to all for your understanding during this time of absence from the field. Please continue to pray for my complete recovery. There is a ton of work waiting on me when I get home.
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
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