| Mission Report: East Timor: July 2009 |
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Missionary Trip to EAST TIMOR - Reported by Raymond de Souza, July 2009.
East Timor is a tiny country in Southeast Asia and consists of half of the island of Timor. I arrived at the Dili International
Speaking of streets, there are hardly any traffic lights in the capital city. Traffic in crossroads is managed by feeling, and drivers from each side of the crossroads assert themselves or allow others to drive first. This system is bit nerve-wracking for those like me who are unaccustomed to it, but it is remarkable nonetheless.
A Visit with the Bishop
At the airport, Mr. Anthony Rodriguez, a Philippine Catholic resident in Timor and active member of the movement Couples for Christ, was awaiting me. He took me to the House of the priests of the Society of the Divine Word, where I was lodged during the few days I stayed in Dili. Fr. Alan Bondoc, a young Philippine priest who teaches at the local university, kindly chauffered me to wherever I needed to go.
The Bishop of the Diocese of Dili, Dom Ricardo da Silva, received me, along with Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Joel Hodges, a young Australian very fluent in the Tetun language. (These two men were responsible for organizing my trip.) Bishop Ricardo da Silva was delighted with the visit and opened the diocese to the work of HLI. He was particularly interested in the St. Michael prayer campaign for the conversion of abortionists and couldn't suppress his smile at the choice of the prayer! He asked if HLI could send large posters of the prayer cards to be pinned at the entrance of every church and school in the Diocese of Dili. He also expressed concern about the work of some NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) in the country and was grateful for any type of assistance HLI might provide the diocese to counter their harmful influence, which is especially strong among the younger generations. His insistance on the importance of evangelization was second to none, and he sincerely hoped that HLI might be able to assist him in that fundamental task. I volunteered to send him talks in Portuguese and English to be distributed around the parishes. These talks discuss evangelization issues in general and pro-life ones in particular.
Fr. Bondoc was also very supportive of HLI's St. Michael campaign, and he took a large number of English prayer cards to distribute at the university. Soon, he will receive other informative material from HLI to promote among the students.
Preaching the Gospel of Life
I gave a pro-life seminar to the heads of the Dili Diocese Pro-Life and Family Commissions, representatives from the Justice and Peace Commission, Caritas Dili and Ministry of Health, and various religious and clergy who were invited for the occasion. About 25 people attended. After the presentation, we had a session of questions and answers that lasted as long as the talk itself. This seemed to be a common
feature in East Timor. The people love to interact with the speaker by presenting questions, making statements and expecting comments, and asking for suggestions to solve difficult problems. I spoke in English, and the Bishop's secretary, a diocesan priest, translated everything into Tetun. The seminar lasted about three hours.
In the evening, a meeting was held at the Aimutin parish for members of the Couples for Christ movement and local parishioners. Again, the talk was followed by a long session of questions and answers. I was very impressed with the interest of the people on pro-life issues. About 60 people attended.
At the local Seminario Propedeutico Becora, I addressed about 40 seminarians in Portuguese. Again, the session of questions and answers lasted longer than the talk itself. Nearly all the seminarians showed great interest in the work of HLI, and almost all of them wanted to be part of the Seminarians for Life network. The Rector welcomed any educational material, both in English and in Portuguese, to assist in the formation of seminarians.
Taking advantage of a radio broadcasting opportunity, I gave a 45-minute interview in Portuguese to the Catholic Radio Mensagem of the Diocese of Dili. The reporter asked HLI to provide programs in Portuguese and in English to be broadcast throughout the nation.
Assisting Parliament in Education
East Timor was officially recognized as an independent nation as recently as 2002 and is still occupied by foreign officials. The police force is trained by New Zealanders, and the army by Australians. But there was peace in the streets, and life went on normally while I was there.
The system of government is a parliamentary republic, led by a president, prime minister, and a unicameral legislature, called the National Parliament. I met with various members of Parliament, beginning with Mrs. Fernanda Mesquita Borges, President of the National Unity Party (PUN). She emphasized the importance of education on moral and social values among the youth and welcomed HLI to the country.
The vice-president of the House of Parliament, Mrs. Maria Paixão da Costa, received me and Mr. Hodges at her office in the Parliament House. She expressed great concern about the harmful influence of some Western groups in the country, especially NGOs, and welcomed the cooperation of HLI to educate the people. She invited me to address some members of Parliament on the following day to present to them the work of HLI as well as what we could do to assist the country in their education efforts, especially in teaching the young about chastity.
My talk, which was given in Portuguese to 11 Parliamentarians of all political parties at the House of Parliament, lasted a little more than one hour; but, as usual, the question and answer session lasted longer. There were a couple of leftist members who listened and made no comment. But all of the others were very keen to share their concerns and to ask questions, even to the point of asking my suggestions regarding future legislation to prevent the moral corruption of the youth in the country. In the end, they welcomed the presence and work of HLI in the country, especially by way of printed materials and CDs for distribution in schools and churches.
Covering the Island in the Culture of Life
Immediately after the meeting at the House of Parliament, I left for the second largest city on the island, Baucau, accompanied by Mr. Hodges and his young sister. Mr. Hodges showed himself to be an invaluable helper to HLI's work in the country. After a three-hour trip on the most tortuous road I have ever seen in my life, we arrived at the Cathedral Hall, where a large group of people patiently awaited our arrival. I spoke in Portuguese, and a parishioner translated into Tetun. The older people understood Portuguese better than English, and the younger understood English better than Portuguese. An endless session of questions and answers followed the talk, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. East Timorese are a very communicative people and make conversation a great means of learning new ideas. The evening finished with a lavish meal of typical Timorese food, and they honored me by giving me a Timorese sash.
When I visited the Cathedral, I witnessed the beautiful simplicity and piety of the Timorese people. Almost all of the girls dressed in a very modest fashion, having none of the immodesty we find in Western countries. In the afternoon there was a gathering of young people at the Cathedral Hall to celebrate the first anniversary of World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. After a variety of activities, which included a talk by the Bishop, Dom Basilio Nascimento, I attended a talk by three people from UNICEF, whose oily presentation was aimed to encourage young people to use contraception. Aware of the conservatism of the people, they started by affirming their support of sexual abstinence as the best way to avoid AIDS and STDs, but immediately moved on to say that since people will not abstain, it is better to use contraception. They invited the young folks to attend their seminars on AIDS prevention, but they did not explain the contents of the classes. I knew what they were up to, and when my chance to speak came, I wasted no time in undoing their contraceptive propaganda. It was a real pleasure to refute their assertions and assumptions in front of them.
The day ended with a visit to the local Bishop, Dom Basilio Nascimento, who also welcomed HLI into his diocese. There, as everywhere on this fruitful trip to this little Asian country, it seems that our missionary work will find fertile ground, and, God willing, we will be able to contribute to the education of the younger generations in a very meaningful way. I will send them educational material both in English and Portuguese and keep in touch with them on a regular basis. On the day of my departure back to Sydney, Australia, I could not help but experience a feeling of joy in realizing how much good can be done in a country whose bishops are open to receiving assistance from Catholic organizations.
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airport from Darwin, Australia-just a short flight across the Timor Sea-on Monday July 6th at 7:15 am. I was pleasantly surprised to read billboards in my native language, Portuguese. Although most Timorese speak the main local language, Tetun, Portuguese is still the official language of the country and is spoken by the most educated classes. Indonesian is also spoken (the country was dominated by Indonesia for about three decades), but most young people seem to prefer English today. (Interesting Note: The Tetun word for "woman" is fetu, but the word for "pregnant woman" is isin rua, which literally means "two bodies." There is no other way of saying it. If a woman wants to say that she is pregnant, she says, "I am two bodies"... remarkable!) The local currency is the US dollar, which was put there by the United Nations, whose jeeps and vans can be seen in the streets all the time. 
