DILI, East Timor, Jan. 2000 — Refugees returning to East Timor after fleeing last year's violence were surprised to receive the Gospel according to Luke in Tetum Prasa, a local language. The translation work had been kept secret because Indonesian policy discouraged the use of local languages, forcing people to use Indonesian.
Following the independence vote last year the Indonesian Bible Society (Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia - LAI) distributed some 5,000 Bibles in West Timor refugee camps (an estimated 250,000 East Timorese fled terrible scenes of fighting and violence following the referendum), but there were not enough to meet the demand.
"We need Scriptures for the children; if not in their language . . . Indonesian will do," said Emil, one of the young pastors.
Workers with the UBS-LAI team reported on the situation in the camps: "Four months of living in temporary shelters with communal washing and other facilities are taking their toll on many of the families. . . .
"Faces of the children look up at you with a curious mixture of doubt and hope. Some seem to be distant, thinking of their homes and a time when things were better. The older ones gather round wanting to know what the visitors are doing here, trying out the few words of English they have learned.
"Some of the adults are suspicious, even abrasive; but most are open, curious about the strangers in their midst. Gradually, they gather around and stay - they have nowhere to go and nothing more pressing to do. The visit of a group of outsiders is the day's attraction, a distraction from the routine of the camp.
"When they know we represent the Bible Societies they become more relaxed: some are smiling, welcoming."
At that time the team had nothing to offer in Tetum Prasa, a form of lingua franca particularly spoken in the region of Dili, the capital.
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1812 was the beginning of organized Bible work in Indonesia.
The Indonesian Bible Society (LAI)distributed 698,076 Bibles and 794,312 New Testaments in 1998-99.
In 2000, it was estimated that the population is 212,108,000 and in 1998 the average monthly wage was US$478.
The legal requirement to adhere to the official state ideology, "Pancasila," extends to all religious and secular organizations. Because the first tenet of Pancasila is belief in one supreme god, atheism is forbidden.' Major religions are Muslim 85%, Christian 10%, Hindu 2% and Buddhist 1.5%.
Sources: United Bible Societies, United Nations, and U.S. Department of State, Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999: Indonesia |
Early this year, as the refugees began returning under the protection of the UN peacekeeping forces, the new Tetum Prasa portions were dispersed among the Australian Army chaplains who made sure they reached the church leaders for distribution.
"In the weeks that followed, many people were overjoyed to receive these Gospels in their own language," said Mark Francis, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Australia, which financed and printed the edition as a gift to the people of East Timor.
East Timor is a former Portuguese colony. Despite the dominance of Portuguese as the official language in schools and in church, and more recently the enforced use of Indonesian, the people still have some literacy in Tetum Prasa. Translators prepared a draft of the Tetum Prasa Gospel in East Timor, which was then taken to Australia for printing with the recommendation of Bishop Carlos Belo.
This portion will be of great blessing to the Christians, especially as they face the long struggle of rebuilding their country following the violent and destructive events surrounding the achievement of independence for East Timor.
Compiled with reports from the United Bible Societies.
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