A Blessed Christmas to You All

Today, I was reading an article about the political correctness (or lack thereof) of Christmas, in which the author asks why so many people today find Christ and Christmas offensive and threatening. Of course, as he points out, that's an old story: King Herod found Christ so offensive, he sought to have Him killed.

I have no qualms about 'offending' here. I wish my readers, not just a 'happy' Christmas, but a truly 'blessed' one. I wish them the blessing that comes through receiving the powerful work of Immanuel - God With Us.

I rejoice that in Timor-Leste there are many Christian brothers and sisters who are celebrating the birth of our Lord. I also pray, as I have been praying for years, that many there will come to a true and meaningful relationship with Him who was sent as a tiny baby to earth for the salvation of His people.

Can we find such a one as this?

And Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?' - Genesis 41:38

Egypt prospered in the time of Joseph - a time when a man of God was in a high leadership role in the country. Joseph was a wise man - and his wisdom came from a fear of the Lord.

I look at the news in Australia and I wonder how our country would be if men of God were at the helm. And Timor-Leste.....

What of Timor-Leste?
A decade has passed since they became independent. They still face many challenges that come from establishing a new government more or less from scratch. In a country where more than 95% of the population are Roman Catholic, the voice of the tiny Protestant percentage can barely be heard.

This is one reason why Rev Arlindo Marcal is running for Parliment. He writes:

Our presidential elections start on  March, 17 and our parlamentary election will be in June. As you know I'm planning to run for it.....Nothing is impossible to God. I believe He is going to open the door to those trust Him.

As I have already mentioned, Rev Arlindo is heavily involved in this literature ministry and is writing the next book on the story of Joseph.

Please pray for Rev Arlindo as his works towards both of these goals. Pray that God will bless his writing work and that the people of Timor-Leste, particularly the children, will be encouraged and built up by this book. Pray for Rev Arlindo's health and safety during the build-up to the election and that he will know the great grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ who alone is King in this world.

Igreja Evangelica Presbyteriana iha Timor Leste

Tomorrow the Igreja Evangelica Presbiteriana iha Timor Leste will be holding their synod meeting. It will be held over two days - Tuesday 29th to Wednesday 30th November, 2011. This is a very important synod for the work of the gospel and our brothers and sisters in Timor-Leste would appreciate our prayers. For more information about the synod, please have a look at Rev. Rob Duncanson's blog. Rob will be attending the synod as an observer, representing the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Keep an eye on his blog over the next few days!

Katoliku ka presbiterianu - ita sarani! Ita adore Maromak ida!

I will translate my title here for my non tetun-speaking friends: Catholic or Presbyterian - we are Christians. We all love the one God! I know for many Timorese it is heart-breaking when Catholics and Protestants cannot live together. But the Church doesn't belong to men, it belongs to the Living Christ. Please may I bring this article to your attention and ask you to pray for our friends in Timor-Leste.

Activity of another religion destabilize existence of Catholic Church *Suara Timor Lorosa’e, July 21, 2011 language source: Tetun

Many people are concerned about the existence of new religion in the country as it will threaten the existence of Catholic Church in the country. MPs from Fretilin yesterday met with Bishop for Dili Diocese, Monsignor Alberto Ricardo da Silva, talking about this issue, said MP Francisco Miranda Branco. "We are concerned about the new religions in the country, therefore we met with Bishop da Silva to talk about this issue," MP Branco said. It is important for the Catholic Church leaders to better strengthen their relationship with the state in dealing with issue

The Joy of Books

A move from one end of the country to the other is always a big one, but especially when you move with eight people - and all their books. The removalists grumbled about the number of heavy book boxes they had to carry. They wanted to know if I was a teacher, because teachers always seem to have lots of books. I love books and it is probably more than being a teacher. For me it's genetic. It's in my blood, inherited from my father. For me, books are special. They contain all our stories, our knowledges, our heart - put down as words on paper for future generations. In some cultures, such as Indigenous Australian cultures, this is shared orally, passed down from generation to generation. In my culture, the word is printed, rather than spoken.

But our prayer is that throughout the world, the Word be both printed and spoken. It is so important that the Bible be translated into the languages of the world, and secondary to that, Christian literature be available in peoples' languages. And the Word of God must be spoken, shared in season and out, preached to the people, proclaimed from the hill tops.

The photo on the right is a part of one I have already shared with you, dear reader. But I wanted to share it again. Here is a little girl after my own heart, clutching her precious book. Welcome, little one, to the family of bibliophiles around the world. This may be your first book. I hope it won't be your last....

The Joy of Reading

Recently a small group of men from the PCA (Presbyterian Church of Australia) went to Timor Leste. High up in the mountains outside Dili they found this young man who read 'Miguel Nia Jardin' fluently in both Tetun and Mambae. In fact, according to Rev Robert Benn, he read it 'like a BBC commentator would read!!' Rev Rob Duncanson took the photo.

This is what it's all about!

Here are some photos of the book distribution in Timor-Leste that we wanted to share with you...

Children in the Paulus congregation, Subdistrict Remeixio, District Aileu

Distributing books in Caisabe, Outskirts of Dili

Boys of the Samaria congregation, Subdistrict Remeixio, District Aileu

More children from the Samaria congregation

Busy reading, Samaria congregation

Book handover in Samaria - Rev Arlindo Marcal with Rev Mario de Jesus

White unto harvest

One of the most exciting aspects of 'Miguel Nia Jardin' is that it has a Mambae text. There are 5 to 7 districts in Timor-leste which speak Mambae  - Same, Aileu, Ainaro, Ermera, part of Dili, part of Manatuto and part of Liquisa.

This map from Wikipedia, while in German, does highlight the extend in which Mambae is spoken in the country. Please pray for the Presbyterian Church of Timor-Leste as they reach out to their people in these districts.

Mother Tongues in Timor

This press release on Friday came from the Komisaun Nasional Edukasaun:

PRESS RELEASE
18 February, 2011

International Mother Language Day will be observed in Timor-Leste this year with the launch of a national debate on the “Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy for Timor-Leste”.

The policy was drafted by the Language in Education Working Group of the National Education Commission of Timor-Leste, with technical assistance provided by international Language-in-Education experts, Dr Carol Benson (Stockholm University) and Professor Joe Lo Bianco (Melbourne University) and a team of education specialists from Australia and the Ministry of Education of Portugal. It aims to:
Help children from all ethno-linguistic backgrounds to have access to the benefits of literacy and education;
 Assist the Government of Timor-Leste to meet the educational objectives defined in the National Education Strategic Plan and the Millennium Development Goals;
Preserve cultural and linguistic diversity as a means to achieving national unity, Peace and equitable development, as stipulated in the Constitution of the RDTL.
“50 years of research by UNESCO and other international organizations has demonstrated clearly that children acquire basic literacy skills best when the language of instruction in schools is the students’ home language or mother tongue”, says National Education Commission Chair, Ms Kirsty Sword Gusmão. “A strong early foundation in a child’s first language also facilitates learning of the official languages, in Timor-Leste’s case Tetum and Portuguese”, she adds.

Much progress has been made in Timor-Leste over the last 10 years since independence to deliver educational services to the nation’s children, with hundreds of new schools having been built, others rehabilitated and nation-wide teacher training being provided to the country’s educators. Nevertheless, much remains to be done to address high student drop-out rates and to ensure that school curriculum and learning materials are relevant to the lives and ethno-linguistic circumstances of students, many of whom speak one of some 20 indigenous languages at home and have minimal fluency in either of the official languages.

“The Ministry of Education is to be warmly congratulated for having supported this important policy initiative”, says UNICEF’s Representative in Timor-Leste, Mr Jun Kukita. “Language is at the heart of education. Mother tongue-based multilingual education is recognised internationally as an effective way of helping children to learn, whilst at the same time contributing to linguistic preservation, a strong sense of national identity, and enhanced community participation in the educational experiences of students”.

The launch of the national debate will take place at the Hotel Timor, Dili, at 11 am on Monday 21 February. For further information, please contact Mr Agustinho Caet (Language in Education Advisor, Ministry of Education) on +670-753 6739.

It will put you in the picture a little when, over the next few days, I share with you details of book #3.

Book #1 - Timotio Nia Istoria

Kindergarten children at Gleno Town with new books!

In the New Testament there is a young pastor who has been faithfully taught the Word of God by his mother and his grandmother. The young man's name is, of course, Timothy, and those two godly women in his life are still remembered today, 2000 years on.

All over the world, and throughout generations, women of God have taught their children and grandchildren the story of God's plan for our lives. It is this wonderful oral tradition that is celebrated in 'Timotio Nia Istoria'. Timotio's grandmother tells the children the story of Christmas, of the birth of a Child who becomes our Saviour. As she tells the story, young Timotio becomes increasingly aware that this story is personal - it is his story too.

For many children, this was the first book
they had ever owned.

This book, my first, was completed in a relatively short period of time. A group of men from Australia were travelling to Timor and it seemed good that they take copies of this book with them as gifts. The men were Rev Robert Benn, Rev Gary Ware and Rev Rob Duncanson. You can read all about that trip here. Gary's blog presents a richly detailed daily account of their time in Timor - certainly recommended reading!

The book was funded by the Education Committee of the GAA of the Presbyterian Church of Australia - and I thank them for that.

In an interesting cultural aside, the book features traditional Timorese motifs on some of the pages. At the time of illustrating the book, the Museum and Art gallery of the Northern Territory was holding a fantastic exhibition of traditional arts and crafts from Timor Leste. (For all you arts and crafts lovers, the exhibition was this one)