April 11, 2003
Dear Brethren,
Andrew and I just arrived from our last mission trip. This time we were on the Moa River. We visited the works at Sao Salvador, Serra do Moa (mountains) and Nukinim Indian reservation (the name of the place is Republica). We took the boat, motor and trailer to Mancio Lima and put in there on the Japiim river. The boat was the little aluminum one with 15HP outboard. This river is narrow, winding and jammed with logs and fallen trees. It is always a fun challenge and adventure. One of those "fun" moments was when we were just about thorugh the branches of a fallen tree. A strong vine caught the lower unit of the motor and swung us around back into the tree. The current was too strong to paddle against and the vine was stronger than the power of the outboard. We managed to pull our way inch by inch and finally get pointed the right direction. This is all sorta normal to us, but I thought you might be interested. There are always bands of monkeys in the trees that overhang the Japiim River. We rarely stop to watch them, but you can hear them screaming above the noise of the motor all along the way.
We actually visited the work at Sao Salvador on the way up river and on the way back down. They are doing well, although Pastor Moises is sick right now. They have two works up river from them. They work the full length of the Rio Azul, a tributary of the Moa. I am trying to work out a trip with them all the way to the last house some time this summer.
The work at the mountains of the Moa River is in a transition. For one thing, the congregation is inside the national park that the federal government has been trying to implant forever, but have done hardly anything other than make life difficult for everybody. The government is trying to get all the folks to move out. Five of our families have moved. Seventeen families have moved, overall. There are now only 29 families left. Also, to complicate things further, our Missionary, Brother Rivaldo, has had to move down to Republica. The school at the mountain village is so weak that his kids were not learning anything. The school at Republica is much better. We have just paid for a new and faster boat for Rivaldo´s work. We are also going to give him extra fuel to be able to go up river every weekend to be with the congregation. The services there were really good and well attended, even though it was during the week. We ended up having a service after the regular service on Saturday night. The members wanted to talk to me and get instructions on some of the problems they are facing. We went to well after 10 o'clock that night, which is very late for them. While there, we also decided to rework their building. They had considered relocating, but decided that they would lose too much of their building materials. We are going to try to give them a new roof. Wanta help? Don't be shy!
Our visit to the Nukinim ( no relation to "nukem") Reservation was great. The old part of the village is right on the river, but the tribe is scattered in small plots all over the surrounding jungle. The Christians there have just finished their little building. It is in the middle of the biggest concentration of the population. This is however, a half a mile inland. To get there we had to go up the very high and steep bank, then cross three swamps. Fortunately they have planked the path through the swamps. They would not let us carry even one bit of our gear either, so the walk in was "a stroll in the park". There were over 90 people in both of the services that we held there. On Sunday morning the whole congregation and most of the village gathered with us back out at the river for the first baptism. I baptized 11. Our worker and his wife came out of a Witness Lee church in Porto Velho, State of Rondonia. They were two of the 11 that I baptized. Over the last few months I have been able to sit down with him (his name is Ilson) and re-indoctrinate him. He is also studying a Portuguese copy of T.P. Simmons Systematic Theology that I gave him.
On the walk back out I overheard an interesting conversation. Two little Indian girls were trading off carrying a 2 or 3 month old chubby little baby Indian girl. One of the little girls said to her friend, "She looks just like her grandmother." I chuckled and thought, "Uh..okay, if you say so."
While on this trip we were well fed. We even had fresh deer, armadillo and cavy meat. The morning we were to return it started raining at 4:00AM and didn't stop until noon. I didn't even get out of my tent until 7 that morning. We were a few hours late getting in, but this gave me a few restful hours. It was a great trip.
If you don't mind me reminding you, Andrew was my mission partner on this, another mission trip and a huge help. He is my "Luke". Unlike Luke though, who may have supplied funds for Paul's efforts, Andrew needs support. Thanks to those who have already begun to support him and I pray that others will come on board.
God bless everyone richly and thanks for constant prayers and financial support.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
April 11, 2003
Dear Brethren,
A couple of weeks after my trip to the Tejo River I was doing some major physical labor on a Saturday afternoon when a sudden fever caught me. The next morning I was just able to get through preaching and teaching Sunday School. A doctor's visit and blood test dredged up falciparum malaria. This is the deadly form and must be treated quickly to prevent death. No treatment, no survival. Fortunately there are 2 ways to treat it. One way is old and cruel. The new way is quick, easy and smooth. The doctor chose the old way. The treatment causes more suffering than the disease! After 4 sleepless days and nights accompanied by high fever, nausea and severe headaches, the doctor switched over to the milder treatment. When I went back to the doctor that Thursday I prayed that the Lord would work on him to lighten up and also give me something to be able to sleep. As soon as I walked into his office that is what he did. Boy was I relieved!
It has taken me a while to get back to normal. It hit me harder than I thought. One good thing about this type is that it does not come back. You kill it or it kills you, and that's that. Another benefit of this ordeal was that I finished getting rid of the last few pounds that I had been working on since my last trip to the States. Over 20 pounds have gone over the last 6 months. As I was recovering from the Malaria, on the morning of my birthday, I hit my goal of 155 lbs. All of the above is just to say, once again: Thank you, Lord. He has spared me again and blessed me throughout. To those of you who knew about this and prayed: Thanks.
We held our first camp of the year on the first through fourth of March. We went up for a couple of work sessions to do some building and renovation. The swimming hole has been completely rebuilt and expanded. It now has brick walls, sidewalk and spillway. We also put in over 150 feet of new catwalks and diving platforms. By the way, the planer that Twelve Ryan Baptist Church bought for us way back in 1981 was used to clean up the lumber for this project. I throw in this info to let all of you know that when you contribute to buy equipment for our work, it gets used and used until it is worn out. When I ask you for something it is needed and will be used. The girls now have a new brick bath house and indoor toilets with running water. The boys want to know when theirs will be ready. Sorry guys, but we ran out of money. The camp was great this year. There were 2 young men saved.
Our seminary has begun a new year. We have twelve students this semester. Pastor Ernesto is teaching Introduction to Philosophy and I am teaching Hermeneutics.
The works at Thaumaturgo (up river) and Guajará (down river) are both bursting at the seams. We will be putting up new and larger buildings in both locations this year, Lord willing. They are both in wooden buildings right now, but we plan to put up brick in both locations. These two towns are growing rapidly. We were the first to take the gospel to these 2 places. Several other groups (mostly charismatics) have come in since. We have stayed ahead of all of them. Our solid doctrinal and moral position is a help, but mostly the hard and loving kind of work our missionaries do keeps us ahead of the pack, including the Catholic church. When I was at Thaumaturgo a short time ago the biggest annual Catholic celebration was in full swing. Thousands of people converge on the town to drink and squander what little money they have on the patron saint. Still our building was overflowing in all services, even when it rained.
This month I went to visit the work at the Penal Colony. The guys continue to do a great job there. A new maximum security facility has been built recently. This has made our work a little bit more difficult since the guys now have to hold two separate services: one in our chapel on the main grounds and one inside the new building.
Thanks to all who pray and support. May God bless you very much.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow