A Brief History

The Portuguese first arrived on the shores of what is now Timor-Leste in 1515. In 1556 Dominican friars established a mission on the island and in 1702 the (half) island nation was claimed by Portugal and became a Portuguese colony – the Portuguese and Dutch fought a number of battles over the island and in 1879 finally agreed to divide the island between them.

The western half of the island is part of modern-day Indonesia and is known as West Timor or Indonesian Timor. The capital of Indonesian Timor is Kupang; the Bounty’s captain, William Bight, made his way here after the mutiny on the Bounty led by Fletcher Christian. The Bounty ended up at Pitcairn Island, the story of the Bounty and Pitcairn Island have a distinctly Advent connection.

The island of Timor was occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War but returned to Portuguese control after the war. In 1975 the Portuguese colonial empire collapsed, and Portuguese Timor declared independence in November; in December, Indonesia had invaded and annexed the former Portuguese colony. Following a 24 year campaign against Timor freedom fighters, and international pressure brought on as a result of the Santa Cruz massacre of peaceful freedom protesters, Indonesia allowed the Timorese people a referendum – a vote for independence or to remain part of Indonesia. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of independence. The events in the wake of the vote were violence & destruction as the Indonesian army withdrew under a scorched earth policy, destroying everything in their path. The UN sent peacekeepers to the country and after a short period of UN administration, this half-island nation once again was free to determine its own future. The half-island nation of Timor-Leste was born on May 20, 2002.

Can you guess when Luke was born? I do not believe in coincidences, but I do believe in Providence!

Similar Posts

  • |

    Powering On

    One of the things I’ve learnt while working in this beautiful country is that you need to be able to adapt & learn quickly. I may have worked in the built environment in various capacities but I’m no electrician. Fortunately, God blessed me with a curious mind and after a quick photo of my design…

  • |

    First day in Gleno

    On the first day in March and we travelled to Gleno, but after an interesting ride – many areas of the road were sunken, collapsed, washed by the floods, etc… but knowing that Luke is one of the best drivers I know, I was also enjoying the unique views of Timor – which are magnificent!…

  • |

    Multicolored Markets

    On this beautiful island every town has a market, where local products or products from other municipalities are sold. We found everything… fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, shoes, clothing, pots, plastics, Such (traditional fabrics), cleaning and hygiene products, goats, pigs, cows and oxen for sale to barlaque (We will talk about this topic in another article.) e…

  • | |

    Septic Tank

    Since the beginning of May 2022, we have been working tirelessly on the septic tank project. It has been quite the journey, considering the numerous challenges we faced and the fact that all the excavation work was done by hand. Surprisingly, the digging was completed in just about two weeks, which is quite impressive when…