November 1, 2007

Dear Brethren,

As the end of the year gets closer things seem to get even busier. If October was any indication, look out for November and December! October was even a faster pace than the month before, which was hard to keep up.

This month I made my first visit in many years to a place on the Juruá River called Nova Cintra. I had preached there quite often years ago. The village has grown and now Brother Marinho has opened up a permanent work there. They built a little wooden building for now. It has a dirt floor and planks on stumps for seats. They will be building something bigger and better soon. We had overflow crowds for all services. There were over one hundred inside and no telling how many outside. After the Sunday morning service we went down to the river where I baptized sixteen. We had one profession of faith in one service.

The next Sunday I was back home at First Baptist. We had an unusual service in the morning. The service started out with a wedding. I married a couple who had been together for a long time, but had just got married legally. Then we had a baptism. The two who had just got married were also baptized. We had not had a baptism for a couple of months, so there were more candidates than usual. I baptized thirty-five new members. After that we celebrated the Lord’s Supper. We have continued to have a steady flow of conversions. We have noticed a shift in the pattern, though. Many of those who make professions of faith have been attending for a longer period. Our attendance leveled off this summer, but unlike previous years it did not drop. Now that the rainy season has started out, attendance is growing again. We had over five hundred in Sunday school on two Sundays in October. Our low was four hundred twenty nine on a rainy Sunday morning! The afternoon service continues to grow very slowly. At night, though, we are bursting at the seams. We continue to have many visitors.

Andrew and I made a short trip to Manaus on River Craft business. While there, David Hatcher invited me to speak at Chapada Baptist Church. I preached all three evening services. They meet at 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. He asked me to preach the same sermon in all three. I have done two identical sermons back to back at my home church a few times, but never three in a row. The shortest version was forty minutes and the longest forty-seven minutes. The longest was also the last since I did not have to be concerned about getting folks out of the parking lot before the next crowd. Multiple services are always challenging. This was a first for me and was fun. There were several decisions, although I don’t know which or how many. Chapada is a great church and has grown. My age is showing, though. I remember attending services when it met out in the boonies in a little thatch covered hut. They are still in the same location, but now there is a four-lane boulevard in front and across the way is the mall! Wow, what a change a FEW years make.

I made another quick trip up the Moa River to República. I needed to see how Rivaldo is doing and make last minute arrangements for our upcoming medical mission trip up the Moa. We have had quite a bit of rain already and the river had plenty of water, so it was a real pleasure to travel. I still used the jet drive outboard, but could have used a regular prop outboard. It took longer and used more gasoline, but it was still enjoyable. The villagers are looking after his kids when he has to be away. In fact, the house was full of people while I was there. He and the children seem to be doing about as good as can be expected. Rivaldo is staying busy, which is probably the best thing he can do right now.

Last week, David and Pennie Hatcher were with us to conduct their famous marriage workshop. Our couples ministry team made up four hundred workbooks and these ran out early the first night. I don’t think anybody actually counted, but I know for sure that we had over five hundred couples for the last session on Saturday night. They were only with us for four and a half days, but I made them both work real hard the whole time. In fact, we never even had time to go for a boat ride. They were a great blessing to the church and our town.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed extra to help out with gasoline. Thanks to all of you and God bless.

Mike Creiglow