Baptizing New Disciples Along the Moa 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.

February 12, 2024

Dear Brethren,

The trip to the upper Moa River was great. Seven of us went all the way from the port here in Cruzeiro do Sul to the foothills in one day. Missionary Geverton was our pilot. He is our itinerant missionary since 2020. The church had a 10-meter aluminum canoe made for his ministry. The boat has a top that is the full length of the boat and the benches have cushions. I was able to kick back and just enjoy the trip. We left at 6:00 AM and arrived at 5:00 PM. There was plenty of water in the river and we only got into one rain.

The building was packed for all services. One of the reasons we were there was to celebrate the 27 years since we sent Missionary Rivaldo. Way back in 1967, I started preaching the Gospel all along the Moa River. At that time, I was just an 18 year-old, single, seminary student who had just been called to be a missionary. Still preaching there after all these years, I preached twice and performed a baptism. The river dropped quite a bit while we were there, so I had to go half the width of the river to have enough water to baptize. The schoolteacher was saved and was baptized. Also, one lady and a couple of her children were part of the group. She has 7 children. Her husband is in a federal prison on drug charges. He burns up the “salary” that the government gives each inmate on drugs, so she has to make a living on her own. What a trouper!

One of our guys got sick on the trip. 24 hours after our return, it was my turn. I was sick for a whole week. I was still able to get some work done in spurts, but not very productive for the whole week. We suspect that the hygiene at our missionary’s house is not ideal. He has a very bad outhouse and no well. He drinks out of the local creek. All kinds of livestock are in and out of this creek. We are going to build him a septic system and proper bathroom. We have also selected a location to dig a well and install a pump. Don’t worry, I and the team did not drink the creek water! We took enough bottled water for the 6-day trip.

Our attendance has been recovering at a snail’s pace since COVID. We are now having over 600 both morning and night in both Sunday services. Last Wednesday we had 378. The average for this service has been just over 300 for 2023. We had another couple saved this week and several requests for baptism.

It is Carnival in Brazil. Fortunately, it is slowly dwindling as more Brazilians trust in Christ. Way back in 1977 we started having retreats for the youth to have an option to get away from the madness of Carnival. The youth are up at Camp Salém right now. There are over 130 teens and a team of about 20 adults who take care of them. This is the first of many retreats of the year. We are under pressure to build more cabins. We built 8 more bathrooms last week and installed a new water tower just in time for camp. I will be checking in on them later today.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.

In Christ,
Mike Creiglow

Baptism in the Moa River
“You will see a pole behind me. That pole is what I use to clear the river bottom of fresh water sting rays before the candidates come in. You don’t want to get stung by one of those critters. The pain is indescribable.”
Preparing to baptize in the Moa River

“The pics are from my trip up the Moa River. Have you ever had to stuff your pant legs into your socks and tie plastic bags over your shoes to go to church on a Sunday morning? Not likely. We had plenty of mud from all the rain, so you do what you have to do. The other 2 pics are of the baptism service. So good to be back on the rivers again.

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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Blessed Christmas Musical & Plans for 2024

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.

January 18, 2024

Dear Brethren,

Sure hope you all had as blessed Christmas as we had. The Christmas Musical lasted 6 nights this time. We had over 1000 people every night. On Christmas night we had over 1500. Over 350 of our members were part of the effort. My daughter Crissy writes the script and produces the whole thing. She has a close crew who works with her, of course. One of the TV networks did a long in-studio interview with her. That kind of thing used to end up in my lap, but not anymore. The transition to others is happening. We had heavy rains right up to the first night. Then the Lord said, “Stop!” The rains resumed the very next day after Christmas. The very best part though was that 20 souls were saved.

We had just under a thousand people at our New Year’s Eve service. Two more people were saved that night.

January is usually a slower month. We let folks rest a little before the flurry of activities of the new year kick in. All this month I am preaching from texts about the second coming of Christ. The messages have stirred Christians and there have been more folks saved, too. Two of our pastors are taking their vacations during January, so I have been more active than usual in and out of the pulpit.

We are also restarting our construction cycle and even starting some new building projects. There is still much to be done on our buildings, inside and out. We are also putting in a deep well at church. There are times that city water can’t keep us supplied. Water and electricity have always been a problem here in Cruzeiro do Sul. We are also doing some building at camp Salém.

Bev and I went to visit our congregation in Guajará, Amazonas last Sunday morning. We had a great time with the small group there. A few weeks ago we had to pull our missionary out. He and his wife were about to kill off what had been built up over the years. He is a 50-year old teenager who can’t handle his finances and his wife walked all over him running the show at the congregation. Not a good formula for success. Pastor Pedro and I (plus wives) sat them down to give them the news. We have brought them back in to try to help them find their way for future ministry. We shall see. Not an easy thing to do, but it is part of working with so many different people. Anyway, the few that are left are ready to dig in and get back to work. Bev and I thoroughly enjoyed our time talking with them and making plans for the coming days. They have a big brand-new building that will seat 300 people. There are only about 30 members left, but it will come back, by God’s grace.

Tomorrow I’m off to the upper Moa River. We leave at 6:00AM and hope to make it all the way to the mountains before dark. Two of our missionaries are going with me as well as one of our pastors. Exciting stuff.

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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Back in Cruzeiro do Sul!

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.

December 18, 2023

Dear Brethren,

Home at last! Bev and I are back in Cruzeiro do Sul after almost 2 more months in the States. Our return trip went very smoothly. It took us 6 days, but all went very well. Thanks for all the prayers. I finished all 14 doctor visits and procedures. They have agreed to have me back in just once a year. So, our next visit should not be until September next year, by His grace. I won’t mention names but a special “Thank you” to the family who took care of our housing while in Lexington. Another special “Thanks” to the very special sister who provided our wheels again.

After one of the driest seasons of our life we are now having a burst of rain to start the rainy season. We like it. Warm and wet. Saturday, we had another wedding here at the Creiglow place. It started raining Friday night and all day Saturday right up to time for the ceremony to start. Just after the couple kissed the rain started up again. The rain cuts into our attendance at church, but still we are grateful for the rain. Last night we had 600 some folks that came out. I taught in the morning and preached last night.

Since returning I have had a few meetings with our leadership. Things are moving along quite well. During the week I was able to get some things repaired and organized. There is still much to do to get back into the routine, but I will try to pace myself and things should start to fall in place soon.

During this first week I was able to buy the little generator. I went straight to the manager, who is a personal friend. He was able to give me a much better price than the folks in sales. Thanks to my long-time friend and brother who made this happen. You know who you are, and the Lord knows what to do next! Thank you.

As soon as the Christmas musical and new year’s services are over, I hope to get back to my trips along the rivers and roads. The health issues and 8 months away have put a major dent in my missions trips. Pray that the Lord will cure me so that I can get back out there.

Thanks for all 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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First Baptism of Two Ladies from the Deaf 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.

November 20, 2023

Hey! Still not home, but maybe in a couple more weeks, by God’s grace and mercy. In the meantime, here is a little news. The pics are of Tatiana with the 2 ladies who were baptized yesterday and the team along with several of the deaf folks who attend our services. If you look really hard you will see my grandson, Alec, who is part of this ministry. My daughter Crissy also participates as well as her daughter Kayla.

The video clip is of Pastor Wilem in action. It is awesome, to say the least.

I have also included a photo of Dad and me. I visited him again yesterday and gave him a haircut. He recalled cutting my hair with those old handheld clippers and ripping out more hair than was actually clipped! His mind is sharp as ever.

Thanks to all and God bless.

Mike C

Pastor Wilem baptizing the first two ladies from the deaf ministry

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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God Orchestrates Events for His Glory

Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

November 19, 2023

Dear Friends,

Charlene and I had the privilege of fellowshipping with several of our faithful brothers and sisters in Christ last week at the annual Thanksgiving Conference in Detroit, Michigan. It was at that same event 39 years ago that the Lord called me to Brazil as a missionary. There were so many blessings and memories re-lived at this most recent event. Also present at this conference was Brother Mike Creiglow, who was my professor of Cross-cultural Missions while in Bible college in Clarksville, Tennessee back in 1980. An added blessing was that Brother David Mitchell and his dear wife, Ellen, were present. I learned from him that he had invited Mike Creiglow to lecture at the college that year while he was in the USA on furlough. Now I can see a little part of how the Lord was working to expose me to the missionaries and their works in Brazil, the field to which He would call me as my career-long ministry. And there we were, 39 years later, enjoying the fellowship, and the fact that God had orchestrated these events so that hundreds of thousands of people have heard the gospel, and thousands have surrendered to Christ because of His sovereign and loving hand on our lives. What a great and loving Savior!

Yago and Manoela, our missionaries to Portugal sent us a video yesterday of how their ministry is progressing there. It was a joy to see their growing group meeting together to study God’s word and share the gospel with the lost Portuguese people. The Lord provided them with a place to meet temporarily, but they are still searching for a more permanent place of assembling. They do a fantastic job of teaching the Bible to the new converts and even to some who have been in church for years but have never been taught the Bible thoroughly.

Our traveling evangelistic team, Projeto Vida, has had a productive month of ministry. We continue to have open invitations into public schools to share gospel skits and personal testimonies to God’s grace and forgiveness. The Lord has shown them, and us, that He is still on His throne and is still transforming lives through the preaching of the gospel.

We are so grateful to you, our ministry partners, for your faithful prayers and support. We hope and pray that you are blessed with a joyous Christmas season and a prosperous New Year.

In Christ’s love,

Bobby and Charlene Wacaser

Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: bobbymichael_1@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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Transitions and Plans for the Future

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.

October 26, 2023

Dear Brethren,

The temperature has dropped! Could it be because we left Cruzeiro do Sul, where we were seeing 100’s on the thermometer, and landed in chilly Lexington, Kentucky? Bev and I left home on the fourteenth of this month. We will be here for around 6 weeks. Between return doctor visits and eye surgeries, I will be in and out of clinics at least 10 times. So far, I have gotten through 4 of these. Help us in prayer as you remember.

Attendance continues to improve at First Baptist Church of Cruzeiro do Sul. We just had 2 weeks in a row with over 600 in every Sunday service. We continue to see folks saved and baptized. We also have added several more by letter. Also, there is a steady stream of people who come from other denominations and get their first teaching and preparation for baptism.

Our church purpose statement is this little 3 letter word: AME. First it is the imperative of the verb “to love”. Also, it is an acronym for “Adorar” (worship), Ministrar (serve) and Evangelizar (evangelize). Many of the ministries in our church have incorporated this into their titles. The youth call themselves “AME Jovens”. The pre-teens adopted, “AME Teens”. Just last Saturday this latter group had a special night to preach the gospel to their friends. There were 31 saved! Miller, the leader of this ministry, is a full-time policeman at the state prison. Maybe he just doesn’t want these kids to end up there.

We have had a few changes of pastors in some of our churches. Earlier this year Pastor Eliel, who had been at First Baptist of Japiim (city of Mâncio Lima) took over the pastorate at Ipixuna, state of Amazonas. This is on our river, downstream from us about a days trip. They had been without a pastor for some time. Frist Baptist of Japiim then just recently called Carlos August after being without a pastor for 8 months. Carlos turned over his pulpit at Gethsemane Baptist, to his father and father-in-law. He had been pastor there from the time of the organization until last month. That church is in Iracema, just a few miles down the road. We had a good long talk about all this just before my trip to the States. It looks to be a good situation for all 3 churches. The 2 churches that had been without pastors were in poor shape even before the pastors left. It is good to see how well He takes care of His churches.

Speaking of that…Three Sundays ago I communicated our 5-year plan to First Baptist Church on a Sunday morning. After teaching a lesson on what the Bible teaches about how God plans and human planning, I let the church know that she needs to get ready for the time when I will need to step aside, or down or something like that. My goal was to let the church know that all of our programs and the mission work is already in good hands and flowing. My part in the coming days is to make sure that we finish all the building we need to do at the downtown campus and get a pilot program in place for the move to the new, bigger and better property that we purchased a few years ago. By God’s grace we hope to see that all happen by the church’s 100th birthday on May 12, 2029. If Christ returns before that, great. If He takes me home before that, no problem. Get ready and be ready. He who knows all things knows exactly what He has planned and will do. 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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Visiting Church in Rodrigues Alves 51 Years Later

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 26, 2023

Dear Brethren,

Grace and peace to all from the Creiglow duo. Well my calloused and stained hands are back. One of my friends once said, “If you want to find Mike Creiglow in a crowd just call for a raising of hands.” Besides being back into all the preaching, teaching, meeting and counselling, I have accelerated the construction and repair part of my work. I have felt good and am recovering my strength to some degree. Most days I get back to the house around 7:00PM. I am so grateful to our Lord for being back into my home setting and routine.

A couple of weeks ago we held a baptism and Lord’s supper service. I performed the baptism of 7 new members. We have had folks saved most weekends. There have been folks coming for membership from other Baptist churches both here and other cities. We have had more requests for baptism, including several from other denominations. Our attendance continues to nudge upward. Our Sunday school attendance is now above pre pandemic levels. The evening services are still just shy of where they were before COVID.

Bev and I went to visit our church in the city of Rodrigues Alves. This town of 15 thousand people was just a village of a couple hundred when Dad first held services there in the 60’s. They now have paved streets, two paved roads from Cruzeiro do Sul, banks, stores, schools and many churches. When Dad held services there on our trips up the Juruá River, it would take the better part of a day to get there in our houseboat. When Bev and I started going there weekly in the early 70’s, we could only get there by boat. Bev mentioned the high river back that had to be climbed hauling our baby (Adam) and gear. We slept in a tent, used an outhouse, and took our dip baths by a shallow well. On our recent visit Bev and I left the house at 6:00PM in her little Chevy SUV and an hour later stepped out on a sidewalk and right into the big church building.

It took many years to establish the church there. It has now been 51 years since that small and slow beginning. They were celebrating 30 years of official church status. The building was full. The music was exceptional. The pastors are Edson Lopes and Raimundo. We sent Edson about 20 years ago. Raimundo is much younger and trained by Edson.

Next month Bev and I will be returning to the States for more medical procedures. I will be seeing my dermatologist, my surgeon and my oncologist for routine follow up visits that they required. Also, I have a retina repair surgery and cataract surgery on both eyes (3 separate procedures). We are scheduled to leave home on October 14 and return on December 6. Please continue to pray. Thanks to all who pray and give toward my health expenses.

I have one unusual request to make. Many of the places I have projects out in the bush, I need a portable generator. The local Honda dealer has a 1000W generator for just over $1,500.00. The same thing costs only $1,000.00 in the US, but I can’t bring one from there. The freight and taxes would more than double the price. So if you can help me out, please do!

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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New Boat for Itinerant Missionary

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, 2023

Dear Brethren,

Hello from perfect weather Cruzeiro do Sul. We just had a cold front come through. There were 3 days of rain and temperatures in the low 70’s. We had just come off a 30-day drought. Now the grass is green again and clear blue skies. So good to be home. Speaking of being home: Bev and I have been back for exactly one month.

The church has been taking advantage of my return and put me to work big time. I have been preaching or teaching at least 3 times a week. Sometimes more. Besides these messages in our regular services, I have also been in the studio recording videos and have visited one of our chapels, too. This month they asked me to prepare a series of lessons about some of the “One to another” texts. I singled out 8 in the book of Romans. Sunday morning, I taught about having the “same mind” from Romans 12:16. Each lesson is supposed to be 1 hour. Mine took an hour and a half. When I closed, they broke into applause. My hope is that they enjoyed the lesson. Of course, there is always the possibility that they were just glad I shut up!

Bev and I visited Cruzeirinho last Sunday night to help them celebrate the Brazilian Father’s Day. Although it was raining, they had a really good crowd, and one lady came back into fellowship after being away for 3 years.

This is church camp season. The preteens went to Camp Salém (our own 400 acre camp) three weekends ago. They had 55 kids. The next week was the men’s retreat. They had over 170. This past weekend was the youth group. Don’t know exactly how many went. I was up there yesterday, and I am sure they had well over 100.

The church bought a brand new aluminum boat and 23HP motor for our itinerant missionary Geverton. The boat and motor were unveiled in the church parking lot 2 Sundays ago. The boat will carry 12 people. He has been taking care of all the congregations and mission points between here and Porto Walter. His last trip covered Valparaiso, Nova Cintra, Valquiria, Profeta and Luzeiro.

Since my last letter our evangelists have been back to Gama and Ramal 7, plus Generoso on the Boa Fé River.

Besides all the meetings and work at church, I have been trying to squeeze in as much repair work as possible. It is unreal how many things broke down while I was away for 6 months. It seems like every day I find something else that needs to be fixed. I have started up some new building projects, too. Nothing major yet, but things are starting to get back into a rhythm.

My health has improved. I have lost 13lbs so far and am getting my exercise pretty regularly. The medical bills are still trickling in, but nothing big of late. Thanks to all who have prayed and given. Thanks for all 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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