Today We Join With Operation World in Praying for Timor Leste, Asia

Timor Leste

Asia

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 14,874 sq km
Eastern half of Timor and the Ocussi-Ambenu enclave in Indonesian West Timor and Atauro Island.
Population: 1,171,163    Annual Growth: 3.38%
Capital: Dili
Urbanites: 28.1%
HDI Rank: 162 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Official language: Portuguese (13.5% understand), Tetum (and its dialects) is understood by 91%. Bahasa Indonesia is also common, understood by 43%    Languages: 19All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	1,023,479	87.39	4.1
Evangelicals	27,119	2.3	3.6

Challenges for Prayer

Timor’s traumatic birth left deep scars. The vindictive destruction and forcible removal of many Timorese by the departing Indonesian military and its Timorese militia allies left a legacy of hatred and trauma that will take decades to heal. Internal tensions – between Eastern and Western, disaffected armed gangs and rival political factions – cause violence and unrest to persist, despite the presence of international (mostly Australian and some Portuguese) peacekeepers. Pray for peace for Timor, that grievances might be laid to rest and that reconciliation might begin to take root.
Timor appears caught in a descending spiral of poverty, poor health and illiteracy. It is the poor who suffer most from the violence and destruction wrought by various factions. With a shattered infrastructure and ill-equipped public servants, the nation needs transformation in all spheres of life. Major investments are needed in education, job creation, health care and training of leadership. The oil and gas fields of the Timor Sea will hopefully bring the finances required; pray that Australia will be fair and generous in sharing the revenues, and that the income will be justly and wisely invested into projects that benefit the whole population and not just enrich a few.
     For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Timor Leste.