Wednesday, 8th September, 1999

Rev John Barr
Unity and International Mission
Uniting Church in Australia

East Timor is hell. Dili is burning. People are fleeing for their lives and hundreds of people have taken refuge in churches like Hosanna Church, Dili. The East Timorese are terrified because the militia have destroyed their homes and have forced them onto the streets. Young children cry in their mother's arms as soldiers go on the rampage nearby. I can hear the sound of gun fire as I speak on the phone with a distraught church worker. "It's the military ... the military ... believe me ... its the military who are doing this to us!" cried the young lady.

This is Dili, East Timor, September, 1999. The people have been told their church, the main Protestant church in the town centre, will be torched. So far they have been lucky. Yet there is terror every night as the people wait for what seems inevitable. Bishop Belo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the Catholic community in East Timor has had to flee. His home lies in ruins and some of his staff have been shot. The Red Cross compound has been attacked and the Australian Consulate has been sprayed with bullets.

A former student of mine and now minister of Hosanna Church described the scene. People have been gunned down. Homes have been burnt and the central business district of Dili lies in ruins. People are being rounded up by the army to be transported out of their homeland in a massive purge of the local population. Many have disappeared as they were led to the waterfront to board boats to unknown destinations. The men have fled to the mountains as crack Indonesian troops attempt to hunt them down.

This week an unbelievable tragedy unfolded in East Timor. People are being punished in the most terrible way because they dared to express their feelings in a United Nations organised vote on independence. Tens of thousands have been forced over the border into Indonesian Timor to live in squalid conditions under the watchful eye of the military. Those who have fled into the mountains face starvation. People remaining in the church do not know what will happen to them. Their ministers are on death lists and their families remain vulnerable to the unrestrained exploits of armed gangs.

"When are the Australians coming to help us?" pleaded the minister. I felt awkward, not knowing how to respond. The East Timorese have suffered so much. Two hundred thousand people have died since Indonesia embarked on its brutal policy of integration 24 years ago. East Timor is a close neighbour and the people of that country are our friends. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot walk away from them in their hour of need. My telephone conversation had to finish and we finally parted with the words of my friend...."please ... please ... please ... will you help us!"

This was a sincere, honest plea by a person serving Christ in the most difficult circumstances. Will you help the people of East Timor? Are you able to respond to their plea? The East Timorese desperately need our help and our friendship.

Today I tried to call my friends at Hosanna Church again. The phones are down and I cannot get through. Another source informed me that many have fled to the mountains. Its possible some of them are dead. Please help. Please pray.