Training Teams, Reaching Villages along the Valparaiso 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.
March 10, 2026
Dear Brethren,
All is well just 7 degrees south of the equator. Hope you are all well on the top side of that line.
There has been such a rush of work here at my home church that I had to reschedule a river trip that I had planned on the Moa River. However, I was able to get in a great trip to the Valparaiso River. We have had works in the three main villages for over 30 years. Recently we were able to start a new mission point at the Arara Indian Reservation.
My team had 14 members in 3 boats. The mouth of the Valparaiso is about 80 miles up the Juruá and flows from the southeast. The village of Tartaruga, where our main congregation is located, is about 20 more miles inland. It had been 28 years since my last visit there. We have so many congregations and mission points that even if all I did was visit them 24/7 it would still take me years to make the rounds. When I take a larger team like this one, we have two goals: 1. I train the team how to do missions and 2. They train the locals in some skills to help them with their daily life. This time Carlos taught the ladies how to make and bake different kinds of dishes. Carlos owns his own bakery in Cruzeiro do Sul and is a successful businessman. While that was happening, Rondisson, one of our chapel pastors and missionary, taught the men basic electric theory/wiring and basic small engine repair. The main objective is to share the gospel, but we use other tools to help the communities we serve. Two women were saved and one young married man was reconciled to the church.
While we were at Tartaruga on the Valparaiso River, another team of 15 was on the Paraná dos Mouras River. They were doing evangelism and social work, too. First Baptist Church had two other smaller teams on two other rivers during the same Friday through Monday timeframe. Wish you could have as much fun as we do!
First Baptist here in Cruzeiro do Sul is in full swing for the new year. We had our first baptism and Lord’s Supper celebration a few weeks ago. 19 more members were added to the church. We have had a few more saved and others added by letter, also.
I have been very busy preparing lessons and doing training. Even so I have still found time to do a few small construction projects.
One of the training projects was to set up a new team to take better care of our many visitors. This was done on 3 nights. Then I brought in the teams that work the motorcycle parking garage, parking lot crew, greeters team and first contact counselor team for two sessions. This was to refresh their goals and techniques as well as integrate them with the new team. We kicked off the new project on March 1. We had our Homecoming service in the morning with 727 and the evening service with 600. The team has 18 members, and they are excited with the results. One young first-time visitor has already been to 4 services. He comes from another denomination and on Sunday night has already asked for baptism. He is already in a small group and the 4 basic courses that the church offers to newcomers.
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 the yellow “Give” button on our homepage.
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The Lord Used it for Good
December 16, 2021
Dear Friends,
The apostle, Paul, wrote from prison telling his readers to “rejoice always”. If he could say that honestly from a Roman prison cell, then we should certainly be able to rejoice in every situation in which we find ourselves today. We can and do.
We rejoice mainly because we are certain of our eternal salvation through the grace of God and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We also rejoice because He not only saved us, but also sustains us every single day. These are facts that we can reflect on in any circumstance and find peace and comfort. I don’t want to lessen in any way the value of the knowledge of these truths because, to be honest, I often need to feed my heart and mind on them.
An amazing thing is that the Lord doesn’t stop there! Beyond His saving and sustaining grace, He has been pouring out large and small blessings on us and our ministries. Charlene is celebrating her 60th birthday tomorrow and I’m a little bit older than she, yet we both enjoy wonderful health due to God’s love and care. Our ministries are steadily increasing in the number of people involved and impacted. Certainly, the enemy attempted to hamper or destroy our evangelistic outreach with this horrible COVID pandemic, but the Lord used it for good, just as He promised. Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ were called home to heaven, yes, but that was to their benefit. The Lord even used the quarantines and lockdowns to teach us new ways to minister and touch people’s lives for good.
Our traveling evangelistic team, Projeto Vida, has just returned from their last trip of the 2021 year, and it was very fruitful. The team traveled to the nation’s capital, Brasilia, and was able to evangelize in the public schools in one of the most ungodly regions of the country. Many youth and several teachers/administrators surrendered their lives to Christ because of these efforts. The president himself asked our team to pray for him at one of his public appearances while they met with him and some other evangelical political leaders.
Early in January we will be hosting our first missions volunteer training seminar. We expect to have college-aged kids from several different states participating in this two-week training program. We will spend the first week teaching the biblical basis for missions/evangelism and then the next week we’ll be taking them to a city in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. That region of Brazil has the reputation for being the most Satan-worshipping part of the country and we know that that is where the greatest need for the glorious, good news of Christ is. Please pray for our workers and the volunteers as they seek to win the lost for God’s glory.
Charlene and I are so grateful for your faithful prayers, concern, and support of our ministries. Thank you.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Enjoying blessed health! 
Worship Service in Curitiba 
Worship Service in Curitiba
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
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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Two Profess Christ at Christmas Presentation
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
January 3, 2020
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! We were blessed by the Lord so much last year, but we are already excited about the new opportunities and blessings in store in 2020. We know that there is always the possibility that trials and loss may be awaiting us, but we also know that God will be with us in any struggle and that He has already promised that He is working all things together for our good because we love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Our Christmas presentation at our church was very well attended and at least two individuals professed Christ as Lord of their lives at the invitation given at the end of the message. At least 30 of our church members were involved in the presentation in one capacity or another and they were very faithful for 3 months going to practices and putting together the stage and sound and lighting system. We are thankful that the Lord has blessed us with such dedicated servants.
Our traveling evangelistic team is taking a short break because Brazilian schools are on their summer break. Around the second week of January we will start our first missionary training seminar of the year. We will teach Missions strategy and theology for the first two weeks and follow that up with practical evangelism, both to crowds and one-on-one. We are expecting about 20 new students from four different states. At least two of these students will stay on to work with our teams for six months after the seminar and, possibly, for a year or more if God so leads them to do so.
Charlene and I have also given a break to our English students until the end of January since there are no regular school classes going on and most families travel on vacation anyway. We will start back up again in February and we are looking forward to how the Lord will use this ministry this year.
Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to carry the gospel to as many people as the Lord places before us.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[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
Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley [August 2015]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
August 10, 2015
Dear Friends and Family,
The month of July has been one full of many things. This month we have had two groups: one from Georgia and one from South Carolina. With them we did Bible schools at the Church and with the Indian children.
While at the Indian village, we were able to deliver food boxes to each family. With one group we were asked by one of the children to pray with him as he felt that he was demon-possessed. So we all gathered ‘round and each one of us prayed for him. When we went back at the end of the month we talked with him again and he said that he was better.
Barbara also had the opportunity to witness to the wife of the Chief. This was the lady who was never receptive to our being there, let alone hearing the Gospel. She did not make a decision for the Lord but at least the seed was planted or watered.
We have been telling you in past letters about how much our Church is growing. Well, we have been looking for a way to accommodate this growth. We had made all the arrangements to cover the driveway beside our building so we could use it for Sunday School classes. The very day that we were getting ready to start the construction, the owner of the building appeared. He informed us that he did not want this construction done on his property. I asked him if he would like to sell his property and he said that he would not. He was with a friend and this friend owned the land behind so I asked if he would like to sell his land, but he did not. What I was not aware of was the owner of the building next door was close by and when these two men left, he approached me and said, “My building is for sale.” And through the AWESOME grace of God, we are now the owner of a new church building!
God has provided a new building for the church in Caraguatatuba with lots of work to be done.
We have used the visitors to tear down walls, beat up concrete, smash down windows, and all the other demo jobs that you can imagine. We are looking forward to having church in our new building shortly. We may have to move in on concrete floors, unpainted walls, and many other things in the process of being finished, but God is so good – no, He is AWESOME! When you see where He is working, go join Him – you will be amazed at what He will do through you.
In the midst of all this, Barbara has had to go to the States. Her mother, Reba Baker, fell and broke her hip. She is now in a nursing home doing physical therapy and Barb will stay with her through September. Pray that all goes well with the therapy and Mrs. Reba can get back home to her house.
If you have not been to see what God can do with your mission dollars, well come on down. We will treat you so many different ways you will have to like at least one of them. Come see what God is doing in Caragua.
In His Service,
AJ & Barb Hensley
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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