Pray for East Timor

Timore Leste/East Timor is an island nation in Southeast Asia.
It is located northwest of Australia, west of New Guinea and east of Indonesia.

It makes up the eastern half of the island of Timor, the islands of Atauro,
Jaco, and Oecusse and an exclave on the northwestern side of the island.

Dili is the capital and largest city.
The population is over 1 million.

FACT
The name Timor comes from 'Timur', which means ‘East’ in Indonesian and Malay.

East Timor became the first a new sovereign state of the 21st century.

Starbucks is a major purchaser of East Timorese coffee.

Although the country is only 9 miles long, it is densely populated.

DEMOGRAPHICS
95.9% Timorese
3.5% Indonesian/Javanese
Small Chinese minority

90% Catholic
4%  Muslim
3%  Protestant
2%  Hindu

HISTORY
The earliest inhabitants of East Timor was hunter gatherer Australoid
groups from New Guinea and Australia.
Around 3000 BC, Austronesians migrated to Timor.
Later proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina.

Timor was included in Chinese and Indian trading networks during the 14th century.

European explorers to the island in the early 16th century.
The Portuguese established outposts in Timor and Maluku.
In 1769 the Portuguese founded the city of Dili  and established the colony
of Portuguese Timor.

Until the late 19th century Portuguese Timor was mostly neglected.
There was with minimal investment in infrastructure, health, and education.

During the beginning of the 20th century, a faltering economy prompted
the Portuguese to extract greater wealth from its colonies
This was met with East Timorese resistance.

In 1914 a definitive border was established between the Dutch colonized western
half of Timor and the Portuguese eastern half.

During World War II, the Japanese occupied Dili.
The mountainous interior became the scene of a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese
Tthe struggle resulted in the deaths of between 40,000-70,000 East Timorese.
After the war, Portuguese control was reinstated.

In 1974 the Carnation Revolution led Portugal to abandon East Timor.

A civil war broke out between supporters of the Revolutionary Front for
an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) and the Timorese Democratic Union.

In 1975 East Timor declared independence.

That same year, Indonesia, fearful of an independent communist state within
the Indonesian archipelago, invaded and occupied East Timor.

Indonesia occupied East Timor for 24 years 1975-1999.
The  occupation was marked by violence and brutality.
The East Timorese guerrilla force, Falintil, fought a campaign against Indonesian forces.
During this time 18,600 were killed.
84,200 died from hunger and illness.

In 1991, 250 East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in Dili were shot
during a confrontation with Indonesian troops.

This became a turning point for the independence cause internationally.
An East Timor solidarity movement grew in Portugal, Australia, and the United States.

In 1999 the UN provided a referendum for East Timor on independence.
Following the vote to Indonesian backed militia commenced a large-scale,
scorched-earth campaign of retribution.
The militias killed approximately 1,400 and forcibly took 300,000 back to Indonesia.
70% of the country's infrastructure was destroyed.

In 1999, Indonesia relinquished control of East Timor.

East Timor became the first a sovereign state in 2002.

CONDITIONS
East Timor has a lower-middle-income economy.

It has revenue from offshore oil and gas reserves.
Petroleum and coffee are the largest exports.

80% of the population are involved in agriculture.
Most villages rely on subsistence farming.

The long struggle for independence severely damaged the country’s infrastructure.

Private sector development has lagged due to shortages, infrastructure weakness
Public servants are very and ill-equipped.

Major investments are needed in education, job creation, health care
and leadership training.  

In 2007, a bad harvest led to deaths in several parts of East Timor.

Nearly half the population lives in extreme poverty.
About 50% of the population is illiterate.

There are many street children and often they join or form dangerous gangs.

There are many rival political factions.
There are many disaffected armed gangs.

Timor’s traumatic birth left deep scars.
The destruction and forcible removal of many Timorese left a legacy of hatred and trauma.
There are internal tensions with Indonesian Western Timor.

Violence and unrest persists despite the presence of international peacekeepers.
The poor suffer the most from the violence and destruction.

SPIRITUAL CONDITIONS
Most of the population is Catholic.
East Timor one of only two predominantly Catholic nations in Asia.

For many church attendance is purely traditional.
Many retain vestiges of animism.

There are small Protestant and Muslim minorities

In the past Protestants and Muslims were associated with occupying Indonesian forces.
Attitudes toward Protestants and Muslims are generally friendly in the capital.
Outside of the capital, they are sometimes viewed with suspicion.

Non-Catholic Christian groups in the countryside sometimes encounter hostility.
At times tensions escalate into harassment and low-level violence

Individuals who convert from Catholicism to Protestantism are subject
to harassment by family members and neighbors.

PRAYER NEEDS
PRAYER NEEDS
Pray that violence and unrest cease.
Pray for those who have been affected by violence.

Pray that political conflicts and tensions be resolved fairly and peacefully.

Pray that hatred ceases.
Pray that relations between East Timor and Indonesia improve.
Pray that there be forgiveness and reconciliation.

Pray that the economy improves and that resources he shared equally.
Pray that the infrastructure improves.
Pray that education and public service improves.

Pray for those suffering in poverty

Pray for children living on the street.
Pray that they be protected from gangs.

Pray that churches experience a revival.

Pray that Catholics look to Jesus alone.

Pray that animist spirits be bound.

Pray that churches exercise discernment and sound Biblical teaching.

Pray that suspicion toward other groups stop.
Pray that violence and harassment stops.

Pray that converts be encouraged.

Pray that the Gospel spread to Muslims and Hindus.