Recovering from Covid-19
December 14, 2020
Dear Brethren,
Greetings from “I don’t even know how to describe this place anymore.” Cruzeiro is well in to its second wave of Covid-19, yet there is all kinds of construction going on, schools are closed (all year), restaurants are open and business seems to be booming.
As many of you already know, the Creiglow family is going through the virus phase. We are not sure how many of us have had it, but it seems to be somewhere between 8 and 10 of the 14 family members. It looks now like Bev may have been the first. Her test was the first to show antibodies. Now Andrew’s 2 oldest have it. I was the only one hospitalized. As it turns out I had the coronavirus and dengue fever at the same time. Recovery has been slow, but steady.
First Baptist was forced to halt services back on March 18th. We started back in September with one service and at only 50% of our normal attendance. It grew gradually in size and number of services per week. Then the second wave hit. We dropped 20%. Now we are back up to where we were before the second wave. The drop, by the way, coincided with our election frenzy here. Lots of big rallies every day for 2 months. This down period was also when I was out of commission.
Bev and I got to go back to church yesterday, December 13th. We had good crowds morning and evening. 624 for the day. I was surprised to see so many visitors. There was a young mom who came back into fellowship after being away for 6 years. There were also 2 professions of faith. Although Dauro and I are not preaching just yet, we were at the doors to dismiss the crowd in the evening service. It is so strange to just have to stand there smiling and speaking to folks, but not knowing if a person wants to shake your hand or get a hug. Many do, but some just walk by with a sheepish smile. Awkward!
Construction at Jordão
Continue to pray for us and for Cruzeiro do Sul. Many friends have left this earth during this year.
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.
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Challenges in Resuming Services
September 22, 2020
Dear Brethren,
Greetings from the lockdown in the rainforest: Cruzeiro do Sul. My days alternate between “frustrated” and “angry”. Our timid (spineless) governor has tightened the shutdown even against the data that show we should be moving toward normal.
We had already authorized our congregations out of town and our chapels in town to resume services, as I reported last month. Three weeks ago, we had our first (limited) Sunday school. After our weekly pastor’s meeting, we had decided to have a Sunday morning service of just an hour (9:00AM), but without publicizing the first one. If the news leaked and folks showed up, then fine. It did leak and we had 191 present. We followed the state rules as close as possible. The next week we had a 20% increase. The third week another 44% increase over the previous week. There were 329 for that service.
Then the state brought down a new law requiring ALL citizens in the Acre to wear a mask in all public and PRIVATE places. It is now illegal to eat or shower without a mask if you follow the law as written. The next Sunday morning we had only 225, a 30% drop in attendance.
For the past 2 plus months I have been getting data on the state of the pandemic in Cruzeiro do Sul. The daily cases have dropped way down. Hospitalizations, which had been in the hundreds is now down to 7. There have been 4 deaths in over 2 months. There had been as many as 6 deaths weekly 3 months ago.
The “tyranny of the mask” as I call it, has kept me oscillating between frustrated and angry. I called off the livestream of our services until this is past. The livestream could bring the authorities down on us, if they saw anyone without a mask in the auditorium. I refuse to comply and certainly refuse to preach in a mask. Now I am back in the studio recording messages and lessons for all those who are afraid to come to church. We continue to have live services, but I must also prepare duplicate lessons and sermons for those too timid to get out or for the few who are hindered by some other high-risk factor.
One of the pastors wants us to follow the letter of the law, which is impossible. He comes to staff meetings in a huge cannister mask, face shield and gloves. The other 6 pastors take it in stride, even though we can’t understand a word of what he says during the meetings! All of us get along fine though and do the best with all of this mess around us.
To end on a better note: We have added some new members by letter. Then on Sunday we presented a new baby that was born during the pandemic. Of course, that too is illegal as no children are allowed (according to the law) to be present. Someone more important than the governor once said, “Let the little ones come unto me.” I think letting them come to His house counts, too.
Pray that we will be able to be faithful and continue to do our best for Christ and His kingdom.
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
Pray for Rio Branco
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 12, 2020
Dear Brethren,
Grace and peace from us in fairly peaceful Cruzeiro do Sul. It looks like the rainy season is finally going to get under way. Most of the rain is falling in southern Brasil though and we are still waiting. I had to cancel a river trip in January because the bottom dropped out of the river. I was able to send our bricklayer by canoe to the last congregation at the mountains on the Moa River to continue the work on their new building. In fact, it worked out that because the roads dried up, he was also able to spend a few days at Gama, Amazonas (opposite direction by almost a hundred miles) to finish the parsonage for missionary Anísio.
Bev and I made a mission trip to the state capital Rio Branco. Let me tell you what that is all about. Almost 30 years ago we started a church in Rio Branco. Only after much prayer and reluctance on my part that I agreed to start a new church there. At the time there was one rather solid Brazilian convention church and a sprinkling of Regular Baptist churches. Most of them were dying. At the same time, we had dozens of folks who had been saved here in Cruzeiro and had moved to Rio Branco and were begging for a church with solid doctrine and evangelistic spirit. Three times a group of them bought their own tickets and came to Cruzeiro do Sul to beg me to start a church. My reluctance was because ethically I did not want to infringe on a region that already had churches. Nevertheless, I finally acquiesced. We had a good pastor from Brother John Hatcher’s work in Manaus who was in Rio Branco at the time, but was poised to return to Manaus. We started meeting in a school in a neighborhood that had no church of any kind. I visited them once a month. We eventually found property and I helped them build their first building. They grew quickly and soon we organized the church.
Over the years the convention church finally became charismatic. It is now the largest “evangelical” church in the state. They dragged 25 of the 27 convention churches in the states into the prosperity gospel movement. Many of the Regular Baptist churches died. The 2 or 3 that survived are just hanging on. They are extremely legalistic and reaching no one. Our church, Igreja Batista Memorial, grew steadily. They got up over 200 members. They built a bigger building and were doing great, then the pastor left. He put in his place a guy who is a hypercalvinist (without consulting our church). The new guy is a good teacher, but very arrogant. Recently he has been calling himself Rabbi Lopes! The church quit preaching the gospel a few years ago. We have reached out to them in several ways, but there is no longer any interest in reaching the lost. The church is dying. They now have 50 or fewer people in their Sunday services. I know this because one of our members who has stayed faithful puts videos on Facebook of the Sunday services. I have seen 3 of these videos and can count the number of folks present.
For about 3 years now I have been struggling in prayer about what to do. Recently unchurched people from Rio Branco have been begging me to start another church. Bev and I went to meet informally with a few of these folks a couple of weeks ago. Looks like we are going to have to bite the bullet and do what has to be done.
First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul continues to take the gospel to the most remote places. During 2019 we sent out two more missionary families. We will continue to do this until we have planted churches in all the cities of our state, neighboring states and countries. BUT, Rio Branco has half the population of our state. There are almost 500,000 people concentrated in one spot and the gospel has been abandoned by the local churches.
Thanks for staying with me through this long read. I need you to pray with us about this challenge. Frankly I don’t know exactly how to proceed, but we cannot wait any longer. So please help me with your prayers.
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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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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Visiting Relatives & Recalling God’s Faithfulness
Odali and Kathy Barros served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together from 1987-2013. In late 2013, they transitioned to Manaus in Northern Brazil to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
September 25, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings to all of our dear friends and supporters. Hope you have had a blessed month. We have had a great month.
This month I had a wonderful time with 2 of my brothers. We made a trip together to visit our relatives and the place where we were born: Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre. That is where Brother Bobby Creiglow worked. We lived up in the jungle 3 days’ travel by boat. That is where Bro. Bobby Creiglow went once and that is when God worked in my life the desire for salvation. Back then, there was no other church except the Catholic church, but now there is a Baptist church. Praise the Lord. I also had the privilege to visit other places that I used to go with Mike Creiglow on mission trips. In the village of Porto Walter, where I went to Catholic school to study to be a priest, there was no other kind of church. The Catholic Church was the only one permitted. Today there is Baptist church there! It was so wonderful to visit the church. When I got saved, I was the only one in my family. The family really hated that I was a Christian. Today it is a blessing to be with many more in my family who have been reached and been saved. What a blessing! Thanks to all of you who have given to BFM for so many years. God bless each of you. Thanks to Bro. Bobby Creiglow and Mike who gave their lives to serve God in missions.
Things are good in the missions. This month we have a holiday that is called Kids Day. We are making plans for each mission for a special day. In the community of Ubim, we are having a sister church who offered to help with this special day. They are going to bring people who do health and beauty things. We will visit the community to invite parents and their children. It is amazing how many young people and children there are in this community. It is a place with lots of opportunities to reach these children and teens.
We are praying that God well raise up more people that want to serve in reaching out to the many communities around us. The buses that we have are of great use to us and we can bring those that live close to the church.
This Saturday we are going to have Bus Cleaning Day. We are getting them all in order, from documents to looks! There are lots of people that live close to us but do not have transportation.
Love in Christ our Lord and Savior,
Odali and Kathy
Odali & Kathy Barros
Caixa Postal 1
Iranduba, Amazonas 69.415.000
Brasil, S.A.
odali_kathy[at]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
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
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New Space Already Being Filled; A Ton of Work Ahead
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 6, 2017
Dear Brethren,
It has been a long time, but I am back. Way too much work and far too little internet. We have been without internet service for a couple of weeks. Before that it has been off and on. Mostly off! For the past 3 months I have been working probably more than I should on construction projects and other church programs. Most days end up being 12 to 14 hours. Just last Saturday was only 10 hours but without a break even for lunch. Beverly is not happy with me. Hopefully I will be able to slow down a little.
The church has been on my case for a long time to break out walls to 6 rooms in our main building to make room for bigger crowds at regular services. What they did not understand is that to do that would be easy, but the hard part would be finding space for those classes to meet. I bit the bullet and jumped into our first major remodel since 2008. We now have added 24 more pews and 80 chairs on the sides. We are pretty much already filling the new space. We still have a small margin for growth for a few months. In the meantime I had to finish out the annex to make room for the 6 class rooms that were bumped out of the main building. It is turning out really nice, but it is a ton of work. This is the part that the church doesn’t really feel.
A new steel structure is going up over the old building at First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil.
While all of this has been going on we are also putting up a new steel structure over the whole of the old main building. The frame is up and waiting for the roofing. This means that later this year I will be taking out ceilings, roof, sound system, lighting and AC to make way for a whole new balcony arrangement. This will allow us to double our seating capacity. Lots of work and many challenges just ahead. Pray that God will grant me wisdom, protection and stamina.
Christmas Choir at First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil
Now about the actual, real work. Our Christmas program was 8 nights this time. We had the building packed and overflowing every night even with the extra 200+ seats we added. Think about this blessing: 8 nights without rain in Cruzeiro do Sul in the middle of the rainy season. That just doesn’t happen, but did. We had 24 people saved and several requests for baptism and church letters.
Even with the flurry of activity I have managed to squeeze in visits to Cruzeirão, Cruzeirinho, Miritizal and Rodrigues Alves. There were a few professions of faith at these congregations.
January is usually a little lighter at First Baptist. Last year we only had Sunday night services before going back to the full schedule in February. This year we only cancelled the Friday night service. The Kid’s clubs, Teens ministry and training programs are all off for December and January. Three of our 5 pastors were on vacation for all of January. That meant that besides all the construction work I was taking care of almost all preaching and teaching for the month. Pastor Benjamim was able to help with Sunday school and Wednesday services a couple of times.
Even so we had a good month of January. We had over 10 people saved and more than that making other decisions. The crowds were really good although we had lots of rain. More about the rain later. Our offerings were up more than R$10.000,00 (about US$3,500.00) over January 2016.
Thanks for all of your prayers, support and patience. 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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