The Power of the Gospel Prevails in Porto Walter!
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 12, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Two years ago I made one of my visits to our work at Porto Walter. I took plans for a new church building. The congregation was growing, but was still mostly children and teens. They were already needing to move out of the old wood frame building that we put up in 1993. Our missionary, Brother Alexandre, was dismayed when I showed him what we were going to build. He said, “We have nary a chance of building a 2 story building for 500 people.” That night we gathered the congregation to present the concept drawings and the plans. I had to get tough with Alexandre in front of his folks. I let them know, in no uncertain terms, that God is the One who would provide and make it happen. Then I just told them that this is what we are going to build and with little help from First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul. At that point I am pretty sure that I was the only one who thought that it would be possible.
Last week I spent 4 days with them for the dedication of the lower floor of the new building. We had over four hundred present for all the services and many not able to get into the building. We couldn’t get to the 500 prediction because they are on the lower floor with all the columns down the middle that take up quite a bit of seats. During the meeting, the congregation commissioned a couple to take over the mission point at Vitória. We had 3 professions of faith, too. Then on Sunday morning we hauled 4 truckloads of people down to the beach for a baptism service. I baptized 41 new members.
There was a new experience for me, too. At the dedication of the new building the members were so excited that they went out and spent a bunch of money on fireworks! Then to top it off they set off another bunch during the baptism service on Sunday morning down by the river. It was actually a very pleasant surprise to see how they really were wanting to celebrate these events in the loudest and flashiest way possible! It had never occurred to me to commemorate a dedication of a building or a baptism with so many big bangs, but it was actually pretty cool. The world ended up seeing how serious God’s people are about their Christian service and what He can do.
That is the news. Now a little background. Porto Walter is 100 miles upriver. Not long after missionary Joseph Brandon arrived in Cruzeiro do Sul (1926), he had a launch built to make mission trips. He named it the “Pilgrim”. On one of his first trips he took some of the young converts from First Baptist Church to share the gospel with the folks along the river upstream. When they arrived at Porto Walter one of the members grabbed the rope to tie up the “Pilgrim”. By this time the local priest knew of their arrival and sent a mob armed with machetes and shotguns with orders to not let the “believers”, as we are called, even get off their boat. One of the mob stepped forward and said, “The first believer that tries to step ashore with that rope will see the rope cut and the person, will be chopped up, too.” To avoid bloodshed Brother Brandon decided to not stay there, but go further up river to a place called Campo de Santana. Eventually a church was organized there. That priest later became the bishop of the whole region of the catholic parish in Cruzeiro do Sul. For years the Catholic church controlled the town with an iron fist.
In 1992 the towns at Marechal Thaumaturgo and Porto Walter were incorporated and became 2 of the 22 cities (county seats?) of the state of Acre. At the same time, I decided that enough is enough and we were going to start churches in these towns no matter what the Catholic church, her bishops, priests and nuns think about it. That same summer I took my cousin Paul Creiglow and one of our local missionaries to check out the field and procure property. The river was low and it was a long hard trip in a dugout canoe.
That same year God raised up the 2 missionaries. The church approved and sent them out in 1993. It has been long hard work, but now we have the biggest congregations of any denomination in both towns. In fact, while I was in Porto Walter I checked out the attendance of the Catholic church, Adventist and 2 Pentecostal churches. The Pentecostals have about 30 or 40 each. The Adventist have 15 at most. Here is the real shocker though: only 10 to 15 people attend mass these days! The Baptist church averages over 250. Thank you Lord. The power of the Gospel has prevailed.
The river is VERY low this year. You can wade across the Juruá just about anywhere and we could see the sand bars and bottom all along the way. Pastor Rondisson went with me. My trusty 25HP jet drive outboard took us right through all the shallows. Many hours navigating through all the stumps and shallows. Bright blue skies, beautiful, brilliant white sand beaches and exuberant green jungle all around. People being saved and baptized, the work growing by leaps and bounds and cruising through God’s creation: This is pretty much a big slice of heaven on earth. Am I having fun, or what?
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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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [September 2015]
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 28, 2015
Dear Brethren,
My last letter was only a couple of weeks ago. In those two weeks we had another baptism at church, adding 12 new members. There have been several more professions of faith and a few more added by letter. I also visited a couple of our works around town and out of town. This time though, I want to tell you about something a little different.
This month the Catholic Church in Cruzeiro do Sul celebrated its 100th anniversary. The patron saint is “Our Lady of Glory”. The local parish was started on August 15th 1915. That means that they had an eleven year head start on the Baptists. Missionary Joseph Brandon arrived in Cruzeiro do Sul in 1926. First Baptist Church was founded on May 12, 1929 with only 13 members. Here is what I want to emphasize: From the start of our town until 1926 all the citizens were members of the Catholic Church. As late as 1929 there were only 13 Baptists in Cruzeiro do Sul. There has been a dramatic turnaround.
When I was a boy the whole center of town was blocked off for the celebration of Our Lady of Glory in the month of August. Thousands of people would flock in from all the rivers and roads for the 9 days of celebration, called Novenário. Many people would spend all or most of their hard earned money from their jobs as rubber workers. Many would give large sums to the church. Others would spend everything on liquor. Some of the priests would even sell the booze and smokes. It was sad to see all the debauchery and exploitation. This was also the month of the highest rate of pregnancies out of wedlock.
This year was quite the contrast with the past. Only a half of a block was blocked off downtown. The crowds were very small. The Baptist and other gospel preaching churches were all full. Ours was full and turning folks away. We had over 600 in the morning service and just under a thousand in the evening service. We had to take a few benches out of the auditorium because of the special program for that night and so had less seating capacity.
As each year comes and goes, more and more people are leaving the old idolatry and coming to Christ. In fact the Catholic Church is trying to imitate some of our methods and even our buildings thinking that our expansion is just a matter of facilities and methods. They don’t understand why folks are leaving Catholicism. They don’t see that it is the Gospel of Christ that is changing lives.
There are still more Roman Catholics than born again Christians in our city, but things are changing. One day soon Our Lord of Glory will replace “Our Lady of Glory” in Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil and the world over.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [February 2014]
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.
February 9, 2014
Dear Brethren,
Here is just a quick note to keep you praying. There really isn’t much striking news this month. There has been plenty of work, but of the routine kind that isn’t much “to write home about”.
This has been the rainiest January of my 51 Januaries in Brazil. Of the first five Sundays we had major rain on four of them. Attendance has taken a big hit. Last Sunday morning the rain started at 4:00AM and didn’t end until Monday. We had only 126 in the morning. One Sunday night we had only 327. In January we usually have several days of sunshine. We have some big rubber trees here on the property. When the sun comes out in January the pods pop loudly, like a gunshot, and shoot their seeds far and wide. That didn’t happen this year. Our yard turned into a swamp and the grass is struggling to survive! The crowds are down at church, but the river is up, so tomorrow early I will head up river.
We have had several more professions of faith, requests for baptism and church letters.
This past month has been wall to wall meetings with ministry leaders. We are trying to get organized for the year. This is boring to report, but it is what I have been doing.
This week I just barely managed to squeeze in the recording of one TV program. Here is something for you to pray about. Our cameras are ancient. They no longer record directly to tape. We can only use them in the studio recording to hard drive. We can not use them in the field at all. One of them was purchased in 1998! One that was bought in 2000 quit completely. Dad donated his prosumer 3 years ago to replace it. This year we will have to replace both cameras and that needs to be sooner, not later. Pray that we will be able to come up with the money. We have been on the local station for 24 years now. Many people who would never set foot inside our church or even let us into their homes watch “Momento da Graça” every Saturday and Sunday morning.
Also, I have been doing some much needed work here at the house. I built the carport this month.
We held our first general pastors/missionaries meeting of the year this weekend, 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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [October 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.
October 8, 2013
Dear Brethren,
Almost back to normal after the prolonged battle of 2 months with a flu. Besides all the regular duties, I have been back at construction jobs over the past 3 weeks.
We have been rebuilding the swimming hole at camp. Each of the last 3 weekends we have taken 30-40 people to work. We had three pieces of heavy equipment the first weekend draining and cleaning out the pond. Since then we have been rebuilding the walls and pouring concrete in the shallow side. We still have at least one more weekend before we can let it fill up again. All of us are beat at the end of Saturday. I usually get home around 9:00PM. Then early Sunday morning I am teaching 2 classes at church and preaching either the afternoon or evening service. Monday is supposed to be my day off, but this Monday I made 2 more trips to camp hauling building materials and getting the next step ready.
Working on the “swimming hole” at the camp.
We started a new chapel across river at Miritizal. We have already finished the foundation and slab for a new building there. That construction has taken a little of my time, too. Bev and I went over to visit them on their first Sunday night service. They had about 50 present for this first service. Since then the folks in the neighborhood have gotten used to the idea and started showing up. They had close to 100 this last Sunday.
We have had really good services at First Baptist with a few saved. Over 40 were baptized 2 weeks ago. Several of these are from our congregations.
I have had some good reports from places like Gama, Porto Walter, Vitória, Guajará, Rodrigues Alves, Serra do Moa and Pé da Terra. Folks are being saved and baptized. Everyone is complaining about the economy though. The churches and congregations are having a hard time supporting their pastors and workers. Our state is broke. We also had a young judge in Rio Branco that interfered with a lot of people’s personal investments. She (the judge) said she stepped in to “protect” the innocent from being hurt. Well we all know what happens when the government says, “We’re just here to help.” Many of you there in the States are probably going through the same thing. So, pray for us and we will pray for you!
Working on the “swimming hole” at camp.
We also had a big activity for our married couples this month. They called it “ChocoNight”. More chocolate candy than should be permissible in one building. There were over 200 couples. Many of these were visitors. It was a great opportunity to witness to these and encourage the home folks.
Bev and I also gave our first ever 4 week, 16 class course for couples who are getting ready to marry and newly weds. We also invited a few other couples to audit the classes as we want to have more people ready to help us with this kind of counseling. We had 20 couples to complete the course.
Sometimes all the building, studying, teaching on side issues and events make me feel like I am spinning my wheels without much progress. I guess these things have to be done, 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
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [February 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.
Dear Brethren,
Hudson and I made 2 long trips this month. We visited several of our works at some of the farthest places on 2 rivers. The first trip was to the mountains on the Moa River. The second trip was all the way into Peru on the Juruá River.
We visited our congregations at Pé da Serra and República. Both are doing well. Pé da Serra is steady in attendance, but we don’t expect growth as it is inside the national park. The federal government is trying to get everybody to move out. Nevertheless, the folks there have put up a new building. We helped them with our standard floor plans, design and the roofing. It is almost finished. In fact, the day we arrived I got straight out of the boat and went to work with them on the building. We held services every night and worked on the building during the days. Our visit at República was brief. This work is in the Nukini Indian reservation, so growth there is slow and limited, too. Our pastor there is Aldenízio. He is 25 years old and just graduated from high school. The tribe wanted him to be principal of the school, but he felt that it would interfere with his ministry, so he declined. He made a wise decision. The cultural and political pressures would have been huge. The day with left the reservation, headed for home, we got caught in one of our all day tropical rains. We were in my little jon boat with 20HP outboard. It was over 5 hours of COLD rain. We survived, though and just a few short days later we were back on the river in the same boat and same weather.
Bro. Mike Creiglow baptizing a couple at Foz do Breu.
Our second trip was up the Juruá River. We visited 6 of our works, 5 of our missionaries, held 6 services, baptized 2 during our 7 day trip. We also helped settle in our newest foreign missionary family. Brother Eduardo is a Caxinauá native, from Peru. We have done some switching around of missionaries and fields. All the moves were natural and practical. Brother Tito (who had been at Tipisca, Peru) moved to Contamana to work among the Chipibo, his native tribe. We then moved José Maia to Tipisca from the Breu. José had been working with the Caxinauá. He was trying to learn the language yet. While Tito was at Tipisca he had worked only with the tribes and not the native Peruvians, so we feel that José Maia will be a better fit to work with the whole population. He has plenty of experience in this type of pioneer mission work. Then the Lord brought us Eduardo and family from the Purús River. He is Caxinauá. This gives him 2 big advantages: 1. He already speaks the language and knows the culture, 2. He does not need a government permit to go into the tribe. All this to say that all fields are covered, plus a new area was opened and a new missionary added. It was a great trip. This one alone was over 1000KM. Lots of sun and plenty of rain. Lots of blessings.
The newest missionary to the Caxinauá tribe, Eduardo and his family. He already speaks the language, knows the culture, and does not need a government permit to go into the tribe!
Let me remind you about the need to pay for the jet drive and satellite phone renewal, which costs $2,000.00. Our support has also dropped dramatically over the past few months. I know the US economy is in a deep depression, but I also know that God’s people will continue to give if they see the need. Bev and I are committed to continue to serve here regardless of the support level.
So, thanks for your faithful prayers and support. God will bless you just 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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