August 10, 2002

Dear Brethren,

For some reason (our local internet service provider) I think that my last letter didn´t get through. We were over a month without service. Now that things have slowed down a little, I have been able to go back and look at the last few issues of the Mission Sheets. My last letter did not get there. Well I will try to fill in some of the blanks.

The last half of May we held our first medical mission trip of 2002. We were at the Peruvian border working our way down the Juruá River and then the upper Amonea River. The whole trip was a success, but there were two really bright spots that I will tell you about in more detail. The medical and dental work at Foz do Breu, Pedra Pintada, Tartaruga, Saboeiro, the Acheninka Indian reservation and Sobral went very well.

While at Foz do Breu I got permission to cross over to the Peruvian side to visit the largest Peruvian village on the Juruá River, Tipisca. Our missionary, Aésio and a border guard went along to introduce me to the locals. There is a Peruvian missionary there (he and his wife are Indians from Pucalpa). After checking out his doctrine we came to an agreement to cooperate on a mission project. We will provide the gasoline for Aésio and him to preach in 10 other villages further up river. I have already sent the fuel and am waiting for a report about their trip.

The visit to the Acheninka Indian tribe was pretty discouraging this time. They still will not let us have services because that would affect their culture. Yet this time they had put in a generator, a couple thousand feet of power lines, television, VCR, several American movies on original tapes, a satellite dish and a solar powered telephone. Of course none of those things will change the Indians' culture! All of this, by the way, is several hundred miles into the jungle, with many hours of dugout canoe to get there. For the past 4 years we have given free medical and dental care to them. They will not even help us carry our equipment. The day we left we had to cross the whole village several times on the run as a rain storm was moving in, hauling all the gear to the canoes. These hundreds of Indians just sat there in their open huts watching us. To top it all off, they have now started to charge to take pictures or video them. They even have an official price list! I have shared the gospel of Christ with the chief and his family. We are praying about whether or not to return there next year. Pray that God will give me patience and wisdom to make the call.

Now about those two really exciting things that happened on this trip. At Caipora the Lord continues to save people and open doors. This time there were 17 more saved. There are now over 40 believers. We had a good rain the first evening. What with the unfavorable weather and TV (they too have a satellite dish) I figured we might not have many in service that night. Also, we had changed location this time to a new school house. At 7:30 sharp the whole village turned out. The next day I held a special meeting with the believers and their families to talk about future of the work. They are begging for a preacher to come and live there and teach them. They are also ready to saw the lumber and donate the property for a building. We are now looking for a missionary to move there.

The other highlight of this trip was at Saboeiro on the Amonea River. This was my first visit there. The villagers were really helpful in carrying equipment and setting up for the clinic. In fact I only had to make a couple of trips up the bank hauling gear. It is usually five or six trips for each of my team members. The school house was packed for services. The next day during the medical and dental work a young couple who had just been saved came to talk to me. Flávio and Rosinete are school teachers. They wanted to know how to get started holding services after we went back down river. We are expecting them here in town any day now to give them some intensive Bible teaching, get them legally married and then baptized.

These trips are made using a combination of means of transportation. I went in my little aluminum Jon boat with 15HP outboard. It took me almost 11 hours. Some went a few days before the rest of us in a larger enclosed boat that takes 5 days to reach the border. We flew the doctors and dentist to the farthest location in the mission plane, a Cessna single engine. That takes only about an hour! Other parts of the trip were in rented dugout canoes. The hardships are many. The worst this time was when one of the rented motors broke down way up the Amonea River. It is not a fun thing to try to repair an ancient engine with no parts and just a small box of tools. Eventually we want to have our own basic equipment. We have already bought some of the dental equipment. In the near future we will start building a boat that will have space for the doctors and dentists to work on board. We will still have to sleep most of the team members among the villagers. The main problem now is having to drag generator, compressor and all other medical equipment up and down the river bank at every village.

Our son Andrew and family are moving back to Brazil next month, Lord willing. His first major project will be the construction of the medical boat. In fact he was the one who came up with the idea some time back. He worked on the medical mission trips the first years, before going to the States for his schooling. He is returning to Brazil on faith. He is quitting a good job as aviation mechanic for a major US airline. He has no job here, no support yet and not even tickets to Brazil. BFM has agreed to permit us to ask for your help in the Mission Sheets and also forward any financial aid that might come in. Pray for Andrew, Eline and Heloisa and as God leads, help them.

This letter is far too long, so time to stop. God bless you and thanks for all of your prayers and support.

In Christ,

Mike Creiglow

August 10, 2002

Dear Brethren,

We are in a bit of a slump here at First Baptist Church, at least as far as attendance goes. I have noticed during these 26 years that I have been at First that there is a four year cycle that hits us. Every 4 years we have the World Cup soccer championship in June/July, August is the 10 day Catholic local patron saint festivity, which is then followed by general elections. The people of Cruzeiro do Sul get so worked up and in a frenzy that they lose sight of all things eternal. Even many Christians get twisted and bent out of shape. The election process won't be over for another 2 months. I must confess that I really get discouraged during these times.

Nevertheless we have still had some folks saved. Only a trickle though. We did have one service a couple of weeks ago where we had 6 professions of faith. Last month I baptized 30. The new member's class, discipleship course and evangelism course have been carrying the load.

The seminary continues to do well. There are 25 students taking the 2 courses that are being offered during July and August.

Just last week we had the privilege of having David and Pennie Hatcher to hold a marriage workshop for just under 70 couples. The immediate response was great and we are hoping for a good long lasting effect.

Last night we finished another 5 day workshop. This one was for our radio and TV ministry. Allan Bachmann, global coordinator for Trans World Radio came in to teach our folks how to work those programs the right way. There were just under 50 who took this course.

A few weeks ago I took a team to visit the little mission at Palmeiras do Javarí. Paul Bachmann, the MAF pilot, who is a member of our church and great missionary flew us to this remote village of 300. Two New Tribes missionary families started a mission there while waiting for permission to enter the tribe. They invited me to come and visit them and eventually try to organize the work and place a missionary there. There are a number of details to be worked out, but things are looking good.

In our last business meeting the church approved a new missionary to go to continue the work in Guajará, Amazonas. Libernilson and his wife will be moving there later this month, Lord willing. We have had a work there for over 25 years, but it has never really done well. We feel that it is the lack of a local missionary living in the town. We had been praying and working on this for over 6 months. Guajará has grown a lot in the last few years. There is now a road from Cruzeiro to Guajará. For years we had to go there by boat.

Our missionary to Thaumaturgo has decided to go to Minas Gerais (Southern Brazil) to go to a specialized seminary to prepare missionaries to work with indian tribes or other cross culture missions (such as foreign missions). He will be there for 4 years. Pray for José Maia and family. He served faithfully establishing the work at Thaumaturgo starting 9 years ago. We have replaced him with Brother Raimundo, a young man from our church here in town. The only thing that we have some reservation about is the fact that Raimundo is still single. Pray for him in his new ministry.

Don't forget that we are still looking for churches and individuals who would help us in getting Andrew and family set up back here in Brazil. We still need help to pay for his tickets and of course some monthly support would be great. He is returning on faith. He still has no job and no support. We need his help here though and would greatly appreciate any help you can give him. You will be greatly relieving my work load by helping Andrew. Send any gifts to the usual address of BFM and they will see that he gets the offerings. Thanks and may God bless you.

In Christ,

Mike Creiglow

Brother Mike Creiglow baptizing at the mouth of the Amonea River

Missionary Jose Maia (right) on river trip with Zico, a dentist from our home church