The SVD AUS Province and the Timor Leste Region are exploring new possibilities for collaboration in a range of areas, including mission and formation.

SVD AUS Provincial, Fr Henry Adler, visited Timor Leste recently to learn more about their country, their missionary activity and to discuss where some opportunities might exist for collaboration.

Fr Henry says one of the topics discussed was formation, including the possibility of Timor Leste inviting formators from overseas provinces into their programs and also sending their formation staff to other provinces, such as Australia, to provide them with further experience, within a multicultural setting.

After Timor Leste became independent from Indonesia, the Divine Word Missionaries there were declared an Independent Region and are moving towards the probability of becoming a Province.

“When they were part of Indonesia, it was very restricted in terms of sending missionaries into East Timor,” Fr Henry says. “Now, with independence, they can receive missionaries from around the world.

“It is a very young and vibrant region, with 45 members and an average age of 45. The guys there are involved with challenging ministries around the country and important apostolates.”

During his visit to Timor Leste, Fr Henry was invited to visit some of the projects for which the local SVD is seeking financial help, and they discussed possible ways of looking for funds.

“One of those projects was a school that would be run by the SVD,” Fr Henry says.

He also visited Balibo, where the parish is run by the Divine Word Missionaries. Balibo suffered greatly during the fight for independence, and was the site of the killings of the ‘Balibo Five’ Australian journalists.

“The SVDs who were in East Timor during the conflict with Indonesia stayed with the people, even though most of them were themselves Indonesian,” Fr Henry says.

"They knew their presence there with the people was important and that’s what they felt called to do.”

Today, the Divine Word Missionaries are involved with parish ministry, AIDs ministry and ministries to the young and the poor. The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters are also there working with the young, the poor and those with AIDs.

“Something that really struck me while I was there was the presence of young people,” Fr Henry says. “Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be young people. Timor Leste is bursting with life and we look forward to collaborating with them in the future.”