Timor Leste: A Truly Humbling Experience

For some of us, it was going to be our maiden mission trip. We did not know exactly what awaited us, but our common expectation though, was to see God transforming our hearts and lives through this 7-day trip. On hindsight, we wanted, in more ways than one, to also be a blessing to the people we would meet during this period, including Pastor Cath who had been living there alone.

We were a team of 13 youths and 5 adults; coming together to present what we prayed was God's good work in the lives of the Timorese.

Upon our arrival, we noticed that Dili, the capital of East Timor was a very backward city. The airport was so small that just 2-3 minutes after touchdown, we could disembark from the plane to a small hall where we would go through the immigrations. The weather during December is similar to that of Australia's, which meant a hot summer for us - no different from Singapore's, just maybe even warmer. We met up with Pastor Cath and set off for the hotel. That was just the beginning of what would be a truly wonderful & precious seven days we'd spend there. 

Day 2 started just as early, as we had to gather with our bags to drive for breakfast and set off for Viqueque by 8am, as a convoy of four cars. We were told that the drive would take approximately five hours, and that it would be scenic. Indeed, there were beautiful picturesque mountains, seas and skies. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular - all of us were marveling at God's creation. While in the car, I spotted a few sites that could potentially be filming ground for movies such as "Lord of The Rings". 

At the end of what turned out to be a rough 8-hour ride (due to weather and road conditions), we arrived at the convent we would live in for the next four days. After settling down, we set off to visit Pastor Cath's house and had a short house blessing, after hearing that she had just moved in not long ago and that her house had been broken into on the day we touched down at Dili. The rest of the evening was spent on preparation for our next few days' programmes, and games plus sing-along sessions with the children living at the orphanage.

The itinerary for the next three days was as follows: Worship Seminar conducted by the team and English lessons by Pastor Cath at the church in the mornings, Christmas outreach programme to one village a day in the afternoons, followed by spending time with the orphans playing games and singing songs.

Every day that we were there, we started off with prayer and worship after breakfast, committing the team and the day to the Lord, before setting off for the church on foot. During each session, we experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit very strongly, and we were assured that God would make this trip a fruitful one for all.

On Day 3, half the group went to help out at Pastor Cath's English classes for the church children after worship ended, and the rest stayed to minister to the 8 adults who came to attend the worship seminar. Although the congregation was small, God was definitely present. We had a powerful session entitled "What is Worship", and although they might not have fully understood the speaker (given the difficulties associated with translations), they came forward to be ministered to. It was heartwarming to see them so hungry for God, so thirsty for more of His word.

The afternoon was spent visiting our first village, which also happened to be the village where one of our interpreters, Acacio, came from. We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a whole lot of shy but excited children, teenagers and even adults. We sang some Christmas carols with simple hand actions for the children to follow and participate, followed by a simple skit to illustrate to them a Father's unconditional love; followed by an altar call and games. It was amazing to see and hear the young innocent voices praying the prayer to receive Jesus into their hearts. After that, all of them had a ball of a time playing games with the team. They especially enjoyed "Limbo Rock"! Finally, we ended our visit by distributing gifts and giving them high fives, telling them that they were special.

Day 4 came quickly, and we had yet another Holy Spirit-filled session at the church, titled "How to Worship" - teaching the church members the different postures of worship and how instruments can be used to worship. The same members turned up, and had a great time worshipping with us. We even learnt a local song that got us all hooked because the lyrics spoke about the endless joy of the Lord.

We visited yet another village in the afternoon, where our second interpreter, Antonio had to interpret the entire programme into 2 dialects. Not easy, but he had so much zest it really impressed all of us. On our way there, it looked like it was about to rain. But God was gracious. He held the weather for us. The smallest of all three villages we were to visit, this village was near a beach. After our games, we headed down to the beach to spend another hour or so playing with the children. Regardless of how blazing the sun was, our hearts were filled with joy to see the children having so much fun and responding so well to us. On another note, the beach was beautiful! Finally, when our extended programme ended and while we were on our way back to the convent, the rain came to cool the air. God is so good!

This was also the only night that the sky was completely clear - we caught a glimpse of the beautiful stars. It's amazing to know how intricate God is in His design of the world.

Day 5 was to be the last day of our programmes. At the church, we were going to do our last session titled "Why We Worship Jesus". Praise and worship was an especially high-energy session. During this worship seminar, most of us who were going to teach were first-timers. It was a great experience being led by the Lord as we spoke. Our last session was again a powerful one. From the moment we entered the church, we felt the strong presence of God there already. It was from there we truly knew that God goes before us. We could see that God was doing an amazing work in the lives of the Timorese, and the people in Viqueque. God was moving powerfully, and all of us were overcome with emotion. Despite the intense heat and physical discomfort we felt, we were energised because God was there. We danced like we never felt warm, we laughed like we had no trouble, and we cried because we knew how much God loves the people there. Again we were reminded of how much God loves us too. We were truly blessed to have had the opportunity to do a seminar such as this. I feel that we were in fact more blessed by them than they were by us. Simply observing their hearts and the hunger that the Timorese had for God's word, served as deep reminders to us, not to take our resources for granted.

At the last village, the team realised we forgot to bring our guitar! Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun with our programme. The highlight though, was our chance to climb a giant tree. This was something that most of us never had the chance to do in our childhood. It was a great experience, and if not for the lack of time we would have probably attempted to climb to the top. It was a lot of fun, and somehow heartwarming to see how our clumsiness brought more smiles to the faces of the children.

This marked the end of our visit to the last village. We headed back to the convent for one more night of fun & singing with the orphans. This time round, the sisters joined in, and requested we sing Christmas carols with them, and then ended by singing a beautiful Christmas song in Bahasa Indonesia for us. We enjoyed ourselves very much with the children, and it warmed our hearts to see them open up to us.

Since it was going to be our last night at Viqueque, the team decided not to retire as early and headed to the basketball court with the guitar to watch the stars instead. There we spent about an hour or two lying on the ground and watching the clouds roll by, the stars appear and disappear, and sang a medley of songs till it started raining.

On Day 6, we had breakfast again at 7am and then proceeded prepare to head back to Dili. Again, the sights we saw on the way back were nothing less than amazing. It was a cool day, so we stopped by a mountainous site for some picture taking, before moving off again. This time the journey was a lot shorter - we reached Dili in about five to six hours. Thanks be to God, the drive was very smooth.

After we checked into Timor Lodge (the hotel), Pastor Cath brought us for ice cream, to an old-school coffee mill, to the supermarket to buy the local chilli, and then brought us to do some sightseeing at Cristo Rei, where Asia's largest bronze statue of Jesus stands. The view from the top was breathtaking, and the team could not stop gaping at how vast the seas were and how amazingly beautiful the place was. Aside from our encounters with God, such a view probably made the trip even more worthwhile for all of us. We ended our day with a sumptuous seafood dinner by the beach. It was yet another amazing day.

Finally the day came when we had to bid Timor Leste goodbye - God had used each of us in very special ways, and had revealed Himself to us at different points. Through spending time with the team members and with God, not only had our lives been transformed, but most of all our hearts were transformed. God gave us the capacity to be sensitive to the people there (of course, with the help of Pastor Cath's constant reminders as well). Our eyes were opened to the struggles of the people in East Timor - and to how contented they were with the simple lives they led in contrast to ours we live in Singapore. Every encounter we had there served as awakening reminders for us to always give thanks to God no matter the situation. In their living conditions, the Timorese could give thanks to God for everything. How much more then should we give thanks to God for with the kind of comfort available to us here in Singapore?

Looking back, the last seven days were more than just fulfilling; the encounters we had were very humbling. I feel we learned and gained a lot more than we went to impart. All of us had such rich individual experiences throughout the trip that we could not bear to leave. Even the bumpy car ride would in time be something we reminisce about. Nevertheless, it was time to go home.

Goodbye, Timor Leste. We'll be back. :)