6 Professions of Faith through Projeto IDE, Visiting Gama, Serra do Moa, São Domingos
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 10, 2019
Dear Brethren,
We have had a great summer. The weather has been crazy though. Several unseasonable cold fronts and lots of rain. With all the rain I thought I would be on the rivers by now, but the Juruá is super low. The roads are open though, but very muddy.
We had a wonderful visit by 5 men from Calvary Church in Missouri. Pastor Randy Sawyer brought four of his men to see the work here. We took them on Projeto IDE to Profeta on a Saturday. Projeto IDE (Ide means GO!) involves doctors, nurses, dentists, haircuts, hygiene, arts, crafts, culinary classes, sewing classes, distribution of clothes, children’s classes and, of course evangelism. We went by road since the river is so low. The village is right on the river and our building is a stone’s throw from the riverbank, but now we also have a road. We had 2 big thunderstorms that afternoon, so the return was “fun”. I won’t bore you with all the numbers, but one must be shared. There were 6 professions of faith, 2 at Treze de Maio and 4 at Profeta. We didn’t get back to town until after 1:00AM because of the poor condition of the road.
On Sunday we made a visit to our new work at Gama. We just sent our missionary couple Anísio and Matilde just last January. We had already started the work and already had a building up, but now that we have a missionary there full time the work has really taken off. The village is on tributary of the Juruá River in the state of Amazonas. There is now a road that cuts north through the jungle to this town of 170 families. They have services around town in homes on Tuesday nights. Thursday is teaching at church. Friday is prayer meeting and then 2 services on Sunday. They have more than 100 in attendance on Sunday night. The guys from Missouri got to try out a short dugout canoe “trip” on the beautiful stream in front of the village. Since then we have started the parsonage. We have the foundation in and Anísio is putting in the fill dirt right now.
We have also started a new church building at Serra do Moa. This work is in a small village 100 miles west of us at the base of a low range of mountains. The Moa River starts on this side of the Peruvian border and actually flows through a canyon flowing east until it flows into the Juruá River right here at Cruzeiro do Sul. This is my favorite river in the whole region. I started preaching at Serra do Moa when I was just 18 years old. We didn’t actually get a permanent congregation planted until the mid 90’s. Our missionaries there are Rivaldo and Leila. This is our third building. The second one is wooden and still in good shape, but they have grown and wanted to put in a new brick/ wood structure this time. We already have the foundation, slab and brick wall up to 2 feet.
I also made a visit to our congregation at São Domingos. This village is right next door to the Poyanawa Indian reservation (where we also have a work). The church at Assis Brasil has been taking care of the congregation at São Domingos. They have just finished new brick building, so I went to do the dedication. The building was packed to beyond capacity. There was one profession of faith.
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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Missionaries Sent to Santa Rosa do Purús; Performing for the President
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, 2019
Dear Brethren,
We have just completed our first month back from our trip to the States. It has been wonderful. We have had 3 cold fronts come through. The temps have been in the mid-sixties. The skies have been bright blue and clear as can be. By the way, don’t believe a word of what you hear about the Amazon rain forest going up in flames and smoke. It is more left-wing hype and hatred to try to give our wonderful president, Jair Bolsonaro a black eye. NASA’s images and data show that there is much less deforestation and burning this year than in the past. Yes, southern Brazil had some dark, smoky days, but the burning was happening in Bolivia and Paraguay, not the Amazon basin. Wow, now that I have got that off my chest, let’s get down to what really counts.
I have taught and preached several times at our home church, First Baptist, with very good results. We had several professions of faith, 3 requests for church letters and a number of requests for baptism. I have also done a few little jobs on the building, but since we don’t have any cash right now and are still paying off a few bills from the last round of construction, I am limited as to how much can be done right now.
One week I was with the chapel at Cruzeirão for 2 visits. They have finally found a lot in the right location. They have been meeting in a tiny rental property (store front) that only seats about 100 people. Their location is not ideal as far as our church strategy for Cruzeiro do Sul is concerned. The property that they have found is in the exact area that our plan had targeted. We are working out the details for the purchase. My last visit was to inform the congregation that the home church approves and will help them make the transition.
Earlier this week I visited and taught at the chapel at Cruzeirinho. I know that I have been mentioning too many “Cruzeiros”, but it just so happens that inside the city of Cruzeiro do Sul there are 2 big neighborhoods on opposite sides of town. One is called big Cruzeiro and the other is little Cruzeiro. Anyway, Pastor Francimir asked me to bring a lesson on tithing. They have built a nice big building, but still needs a lot of finish work. Their offerings are less than half of what they should be for the size of the congregation. We shall see.
This month we sent out another couple to the mission field at Santa Rosa do Purús. Lucas, Diana and their baby girl Esther arrived in the town just yesterday. It took their furniture and personal belongings 2 weeks to get there.
One of our church members, Iverson Bueno, who is a district attorney, started a musical conservatory about 5 years ago. The local army base has been his biggest helper. Several teens from our church and our school are enrolled. They have developed a great choir and orchestra. They selected 75 of the students to go to the federal capital, Brasília, to perform. Their first of several performances was for President Jair Bolsonaro and several of his cabinet members. Andrew’s oldest son Alec and Crissy’s oldest son Caleb are there. Caleb sang a solo part during one of the songs. They have also performed at the Congress and the Supreme Court. Boy are we proud of this bunch. Both of my grandsons got to meet and take a picture with the president. The president held one of little girls in his arms during a group picture. This little girl is a student at our school, Colégio Cristão Cruzeiro.
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 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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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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Bro. Brandon’s Courage and Wisdom Brought to Fruition 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.
October 15, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Our founder, missionary Joseph F Brandon, arrived in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre in 1926. He was the first man to bring the gospel to the Juruá valley. Just 3 years later he organized First Baptist Church with 13 members. He continued to share the Good News in the villages along the river with his new converts. To reach these distant villages he had a boat built and named it “The Pilgrim”. Many of the members of first Baptist traveled with him.
About 100 miles upstream he came to a little town called Porto Walter. At the time, Porto Walter was the biggest village other than Cruzeiro do Sul. It was a major hub for the collection of native rubber and distribution of merchandise to the rubber workers. The nuns and priests put in their biggest schools there. Children came from all around to go to these schools, which had dorms for the kids. The Catholic religious leaders were actually more powerful and influential than in Cruzeiro do Sul.
When Brother Brandon arrived there and was getting ready to land, the head priest, a stern and cruel German named Dom Henrique, sent a mob down to the river’s edge. As one of Brother Brandon’s new converts grabbed the rope and got ready to jump ashore, one of the men in the crowd, brandishing his machete, said, “If you try to tie up here I will cut the rope and cut you up, too!” Brother Brandon backed away from the confrontation. “The Pilgrim” moved on up river to a little village called Campo de Santana. There he preached and many were saved. We still have a congregation there to this day.
After the threat by the most powerful man on the Juruá River, Dom Henrique, it seemed as if Porto Walter was put off limits to the gospel. When we first visited Campo de Santana in the early 60’s I found it strange that we would pass this big town by to visit a little congregation further upstream.
Later on I was called to be a missionary and I too would pass Porto Walter and continue spreading the Gospel all the way up the Juruá and into Peru. It just wasn’t right. Then in the early 90’s I made a special visit to the town to “case the place”, you might say. In 1992 I made a strong appeal for a missionary to Porto Walter in our annual missions and pastors conference. Two years later First Baptist Church sent Brother Mário and family. I took them up, rented a house and started looking for property. The Catholic church was not at all happy that these “crentes” (believers) had dared to invade their territory. It was really hard and the persecution was nonstop, although they were no longer able to use bodily harm as a tool to try to stop us.
Nine years ago, we sent Mário to a new field. In his place we sent Alexandre and Rejane. They had just finished seminary and had spent several months in our own internship at First Baptist Church to complete their training.
Last week I went up to visit the work and celebrate our 24th anniversary of the first steps of our work at Porto Walter. We now have a parsonage and a new 2 story building. The building is still under construction, but usable. We had 3 days of teaching and preaching. Three more people were saved and on Sunday morning I baptized 21 new members.
Here is the best part though: On Sunday night, October 14, 2018 we organized First Baptist Church of Porto Walter with 158 charter members. The church already has 4 congregations that they visit every weekend. They bought 2 boats and motors to take their missionaries to their fields.
The cruelty of those priests and nuns of years past is now just a faint memory in the history of Porto Walter as hundreds flock to First Baptist Church every week to hear the Word of God.
As for the priest Dom Henrique, all that is left is his name on a school here in town. He eventually became the bishop over the whole Juruá Valley parish, but left no lasting legacy. Jesus Christ is leaving a vivid lasting mark on all of this region by way of his churches and servants.
Brother Brandon, “The Pilgrim” and her precious cargo didn’t live to see what I have seen. However, his courage and wisdom have come to fruition. His legacy is eternal.
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
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