Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [September 2013]

Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.

August 31, 2013

Greetings to all dear friends, 

Twenty-seven years have passed since we began our ministry here in Sao Paulo. Looking back, it seems impossible that it has been that long. As we make new plans for our new place of work, we look back and see what God has allowed us to be a part of. 

Our ministry with helping needy people, especially children, started in 1987 with a widow and her 5 children. Some of you may remember when we rented a home next to ours for them to live in. Those kids are all grown and on their own. As we come to a close of our ministry here, we were with these children as a new step in their lives took place. We buried the mother last Sunday. What an unusual situation. Our ministry started and ended with the same family. We praise God that she was saved. Her son Rodrigo is one of the teachers here in the Bible Institute.

Ever since I was saved, I have had the desire to work and reach people who lived in villages on the river. Ever since the home was closed and we could not reopen, we have been praying for God to show us what He wanted us to do and where. Last year in July, we had peace about where God wanted us. We then contacted the directors of BFM and informed them of our new plans. We appreciated their prayers for our move.

For the last year we have been getting thing ready for the changes here. One day at a time God has taken care of each detail. We have already started our move. We will be moving back to Manaus, Amazonas where Kathy and I met, got married, and started our work in the ministry. We have already sent to trucks of things. Wow–one can really accumulate many things in 27 years!!! We will be living across the river from Manaus on our land where we had a children’s home also. When we arrive, we will be visiting by road and by river the villages to see how many there are and if they have any Baptist work. We want to make a map of the cities and their sizes and their needs. Since roads have been opened, villages have started on roadsides. We will be using the big bus that we had at the home and we will need to purchase a boat for the river work. We are excited about the change–and what a change after 27 years of having dozens and even hundreds of people in our home every day. God has been good and we have been blessed in our ministry. Through good and hard times He has always been with us and given us the strength that only He can give.

I was saved through the work of a missionary from BFM who visited a village on the river, Bro. Bobby Creiglow. He visited my village once and when he left the village he believed it had not been worth the long trip. Little did He know that God had a purpose in that trip. I was not in the service he held, but my cousins told me about it and I wanted to know more about that God he had preached about.

So when my Grandmother got sick and had to go to Cruzeiro do Sul, I asked to go with her. When our boat arrived at the port, there stood the man that my cousin had mentioned. Not long after I was able to go to the church and hear the plan of salvation and receive God as my Savior. I thank God for those of you who have given so faithfully for so many years and continue to give. May God pour His blessing on your lives.

Please pray for us as we make our move. Everything is just about all packed. Kathy has been working hard to get things packed and things in order that need to be left for the church here. We are taking a couple that will be working with us in the ministry, Gilmar and his wife Lizene. She has worked with us for many years. Gilmar is a young man that came to live in the home and got saved here. We will support them, through the ministry.

Our main emphasis is preaching the gospel and church planting. It is amazing that everywhere you go you will find an Assembly of God church. We also plan on helping the communities in ways such as: education, clothing, health and food.  

We would like to go to the U.S. some time in the near future. We applied for our sons’ immigrant visas over a year ago and we haven’t heard anything from the office since we paid all the fees. Please pray that they will arrive soon.

If you would like to know more you can contact us at : odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com.  

Love in Christ,

Odali and Kathy
Tito, Jonas and Gabriel

Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA

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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [November 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.

November 5, 2012

Dear Brethren,

Many of you may know that we have had a local TV program for over 22 years. We have our own little studio and every Tuesday or Thursday night a couple of young men from church help me record and edit a half hour program. Many people watch the program that airs every Saturday and Sunday morning. They tell me and thank me. Many would never come to church, but they still tell me how much they enjoy it. There haven’t been many to come out and profess trust in Christ. Last week though I had some great news. At 6:30AM as I was getting the building open to start work a young man stopped by and introduced himself. He is one of two sons of the former mayor of Porto Walter. The mayor and his 2 boys were arrested and convicted of corruption and were in the local penitentiary. Demerval thanked me for the program. He said that he, his brother and dad watched every weekend and all three were saved while in there. He said, “When I went in, I thought I knew who Jesus was, but I didn’t know Him. Because of the messages that we heard now we KNOW Him!” Our teams that visit the prison every week took care of them while they served their time. All 3 are now free and I hope that they will get in church at Porto Walter.

We had a great baptism service last month. 24 new members. We have had a few other new members by church letter, too. Last Sunday we had 5 more people saved.

Zico and I took off for a visit to Porto Walter a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t quite make it. We had been on the river for over 4 hours and were just about an hour away when we had engine trouble. A very major tropical storm had been stalking us for over 2 hours. We had been through the edges of it because of the horseshoe bends of the river. At 5:30 it got ahead of us. Right then the motor banged a stump and started to vibrate. I thought, “There goes the brand new prop.”

When I stopped at a beach to check it out I discovered that the lower motor mount had broken and fallen off. No way to buck the current and continue up stream. Thank the Lord and Park Ridge Baptist Church for the satellite phone. Just as the storm slammed us I was able to warn Bev and the folks at Porto Walter that we were not going to be able to make it. What next? The engine was purring nicely and could turn the prop at idle speed, but nothing more. I asked Zico what he would rather do: find a house to spend the night or poke along until we eventually got back to Cruzeiro do Sul. He said, “Let’s go home.” The storm passed and the moon came out for a while. My really good and powerful flashlight helped us thread our way through all the stumps and shallows. It took us 10 hours and we arrived back in Cruzeiro at 3:30AM. After a couple of hours of sleep I got up and went to church for Sunday morning services. Zico was beat and didn’t make it to the first service of the day! I am grateful for the good health, stamina and drive that the Lord has given me.

Please pray for my safety and those who are working with me on the annex. We are putting up the steel structure for the third floor. I built and erected the columns. Today I will finish the last steel truss. Later this week we hope to get them up and the roof on no later than the 15th. I promised the church that I would build all this stuff myself to save them some money. Just this one job is a savings of $22,000.00. The church and Bev worry about my safety, which is understandable. The hours have been long for many weeks. I start my day at 5:00AM with prayer and devotion with several church members. Then it is work from dawn to dark. I have to keep up all my teaching and preaching, too, so pray for me.

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 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,

The same day we arrived from Manaus was Crissy’s college graduation. No need to mention her top of the class grades. She also did all the gabbing to the crowd that night. Adam, Monica, Andrew and Crissy are all very good at what they do. They all get their good looks from Beverly. They get their success from the Lord. I just get to brag and enjoy it all.

A couple of days later I visited our church at Lagoinha and preached for them. They had well over 200 people present. Recently they built a brand new building and called a young man who was born and reared at our camp. Valdeci has got them back to doing missions and seems to be leading the church in a good direction. It had been almost dead not long ago. I feel better, now.

Pastor Pedro held our annual couple’s camp. There were 62 couples present. Many of them had to sleep in tents since we don’t have enough cabins. The ladies camp earlier last month had over 140 women. The men have gotten together and will be building at least 2 more cabins by December. I started the camp ministry in 1977 and just in the last few years has the church really seen the need and usefulness of the camp. These things take time and perseverance.

This week we got the last bracing out from the 2nd floor of the annex. Looking good. We are now going to be able to use the 9 class rooms, 3 bath rooms, storage room, sound room and 1500 square foot meeting hall. None of this is finished out, but we will go ahead and use it as we work. At the same time I am building 2 more bathrooms just off of the third floor and a pretty good size kitchen. I have already made the 14 steel columns. Tomorrow I start building the steel trusses to the third and final floor.

Hudson just got back from up river. He and 3 other of our evangelists did house to house, person to person evangelism on a section of the Juruá River. The section they covered is from the mouth of the Grajaú River to the mouth of the Cruzeiro do Vale River. Almost 50 miles of river. I don’t know how many people they witnessed to, but he said there were 23 professions of faith.

Here in town we haven’t had that many people saved, but continue to have one or 2 every week. Last Sunday a man who I’ve known for many years, Ivan, made his public profession of faith. He works for the state road department. For a long time he worked on the ferry, so we had plenty of little and sometimes longer chats over the years.

Our small group meetings have been great. We have people from all walks of life. We have everything from an ex convict (who we won through our prison ministry) to doctors, engineers, a district attorney, a judge and 3 businessmen. One of our guys even sells bananas to make a living. Everyone is treated alike and gets along just great in Christ. This is fun to see and be part of. Last night we met by the Moa River and grilled some burgers to go along with our Bible study. When we finally got home it was 92 degrees in our house at 11:30PM. Here’s the deal: If it gets too cold for you there in the States and you need some physical and spiritual warmth, then come on down.

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

Click here to donate to BFM.

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