Updated Country Profile - Timor-Leste (East Timor)

Click here to access the updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Timor-Leste (East Timor). Timor-Leste is a small island nation in Indonesia inhabited by 1.3 million people that has a homogeneously Christian population (98% Roman Catholic) with a Portuguese colonial history. This profile underwent a major overhaul due to several significant Church developments, such as the dedication of the country for missionary work by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and assignment of the first senior missionary couple to Dili in 2015, the completion of the first Church meetinghouse in 2017, and the first convert baptisms in 2019. A member group has operated in Dili for four years. See below for the Future Prospects section of this profile:

The Church has established a strong foundation among less than one dozen Timorese members in Dili – all of whom appeared active as of July 2019. Continued mentoring and fellowship of these members by one another and by senior missionaries will likely result in the development of local leadership that can one day sustain an official branch. The reason why the Church continues to lack official government recognition remains unclear as there do not appear to be any legal obstacles that prevent registration. It is unlikely that the Church will experience significant growth until such registration is obtained and young, full-time proselytizing missionaries are assigned. In the meantime, growth will most likely consist of high-quality converts who self-refer for information about the Church or who have personal connections with senior missionary couples or local members. Distance from mission headquarters in Jakarta, a comparatively tiny population, no translations of Church materials in Tetun, and an extremely small Church membership pose long-term challenges for future proselytism efforts through traditional means.

July 2019 Newsletter

I know this is almost two weeks late, but please click here to access our July 2019 monthly newsletter for cumorah.com. I wanted to wait until the site was back up to post the newsletter so the links for the updated country profiles would work. I will include profiles updated in July in the August monthly newsletter since the links will not work at present, and I have not been able to post the updated Timor-Leste profile (where the Church has had some significant recent developments with convert baptisms). We are getting closer to fixing the issue with the site, and hopefully it will be back up in the next few days.

Timor-Leste (East Timor) Dedicated for Missionary Work

In an LDS Church News article published yesterday, the Church announced that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland dedicated Timor-Leste (East Timor) for missionary work last month. Timor-Leste has a homogeneously Christian population and no LDS presence. Investigatory trips from senior missionaries assigned to the Asia Area headquarters occurred several month ago in preparation for opening the country to missionary work. The first senior missionary couple was assigned on August 8th and has been primarily commissioned to begin LDS Charities activities in the country. There are no restrictions on religious freedom in Timor-Leste. Missionary work will commence in the Portuguese language under the Indonesia Jakarta Mission. Timor-Leste became independent from Indonesia in 2002 and currently has a population of 1.3 million.

A cumorah.com case study written in December 2014 entitled "Prospective LDS Outreach in Timor-Leste" can be found here.

Initial LDS Missionary Outreach in Timor-Leste (East Timor) Underway?

There have been three recent developments that suggest the Church is making preparations to establish an LDS presence in Timor-Leste (East Timor). Inhabited by 1.2 million, Timor-Leste is one of the few nations that has a predominantly Christian population and no LDS presence.

The Church recently created a new mission region in the Indonesia Jakarta Mission to specifically administer Timor-Leste. Mission regions are typically created in missions that administer multiple countries. Generally a separate mission region is organized for each country that has missionaries assigned. For example, the Church operates a separate mission region in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission for New Caledonia.

The Church recently noted in its Senior Missionary Opportunities Bulletin that there is a need for a public affairs specialist to administer Vietnam and Timor-Leste within the next 12 months. A public affairs specialist is often one of the first representatives of the Church to investigate conditions for missionary activity, assist in the process for the Church to obtain government recognition, and lay the groundwork for the eventual assignment of full-time missionaries.

Senior missionaries on humanitarian assignment recently took part in an exploratory trip to Timor-Leste under the direction of the Asia Area Presidency. Their trip to Timor-Leste appeared entirely humanitarian in nature through LDS Charities. Their blog can be found here.

These developments are very encouraging. The Church has approximately three dozen nations worldwide with no LDS presence - approximately one dozen of these nations have no restrictions on religious freedom. It appears that there is a renewed interest by LDS leaders to open additional nations to the Church as evidenced by recent missionary investigatory trips to Senegal and Sao Tome and Principe and the inclusion of former Soviet Republics previously unassigned to missions in the newly organized Central Eurasian Mission. A case study that examines this topic can be found here.