Dear Friends,

A pale, filthy little boy, who looked about 7 years old, sat on the street while a woman, who looked around 30, crouched in front of him, holding a pipe to his mouth.  With her other hand she held a lighter and lit the rock of crack cocaine in the pipe.   After the fragile, little boy inhaled the crack, he curled up into a ball on the street.

This hellish scene was repeated up and down the streets of Crackland, where Jodi and I walked with two members of the Brazilian team that tries to rescue the children wandering these streets.  Crackland is located in a part of Sao Paulo, Brazil called Garbage Mouth—a place where we saw a pregnant girl, who looked like she was about to give birth, making deals with drug dealers on the streets to buy more drugs.  Many of these young children end up in prostitution, abused by men who visit this neighborhood looking for children.

Caitano, who leads the work in Garbage Mouth, carried a first aid kit with him while we walked the streets.  About 25 kids came up to him and he cleaned and bandaged their wounds; one guy who came for help had a big cut on his back from a knife attack.

Fernanda, who attended Steiger’s Radical Missions and Leadership Training School in New Zealand, prayed with Jodi for a boy we met on the streets.  He was 15 years old.  While they prayed for him, he started to cry; he was clearly touched by the Holy Spirit.  Caitano told him that he didn't have to stay on the streets and they would help him get back to his family.   After a long struggle, he went with us to the apartment, ate something, took a shower and received some clean clothes.  Please pray for the team working in this desperate place, and also about the possibility of supporting this work.

Jodi and I are now in Germany where we have been meeting with Steiger’s international eldership, seeking God about future direction for this ministry.  We had a good but intense time and we all left encouraged and challenged.  We are also in the middle of an evangelistic speaking tour in Germany.  So far we have seen many respond in the meetings by making a first time commitment to Jesus, or the decision to follow God in a more radical way.

When we are finished in Germany, we will travel to Poland where I will meet with the leaders there, and Jodi will speak at a SLOT conference.  Then, while Jodi returns to New Zealand, I will go on to Singapore to make plans for future evangelistic tours in Asia, including Singapore, China and Japan.  I will join Jodi in New Zealand two weeks later, just in time to prepare for Christmas!!

The name of Jesus has been proclaimed all over the world because of your faithful prayers and support.  Thank you again for making our work possible!

Have a great Christmas!
For the lost,

David & Jodi Pierce
Steiger International