Dear Friends,

Working 18 hours a day, they are treated like animals, often contracting diseases because they breathe so much dust.  They work, sleep and live in the sweatshops where they earn about 150 dollars a month.  Hundreds of thousands are trapped in desperate poverty.  They smuggle themselves into Sao Paulo illegally with hopes of a better life, only to be exploited by a mafia that trades them like a commodity.  The majority are Bolivian, Peruvian and Paraguayan.

When I returned to Brazil, after attending the Steiger Radical Missions and Leadership Training School, I felt like God was asking me to begin a work in Sao Paulo to bring God's love to these broken people.  I sought God about how I could serve them and preach the Gospel.  Some of them told me that they wanted to learn Portuguese and have computer classes.  So in August, I began meeting with and teaching some of these homeless people in a house I was able to use.  Eighty-five immigrants came—some as young as seven years old, while others were men and women over the age of seventy.

Three weeks later, a pastor from Bolivia told me he would like to support the project.  He found a room for us with chairs and a blackboard, and today many people who attend the classes are attending his church on Sundays as well!!!

On December 16th, 60 people graduated from the course and many of their friends and relatives want to know when classes will begin in 2007 so that they can sign up too.  I am also developing a work for poor children in the slums.  We have monthly activities for them, and are visiting them in their homes and starting relationships with them.  We really need women to help us with this work, since there are so many girls who need to talk with someone.

Thank you for being a part of my life and for your prayers.
DIEGO

We just received this report from a student who attended our last Steiger Radical Missions School.  Diego is an example of the young, radical missionaries that we want to send out all over the world.

Later this year, in October, we will hold a major Steiger conference in Brazil. The purpose of this conference is to train and send out hundreds like Diego, who are willing to receive a piece of God's broken heart for the lost.

Thank you for your part in bringing God’s love to so many!

For the lost,

David & Jodi Pierce
Steiger International