Pray for a living faith
Almost all Timorese identify as Catholic, and the Church has been at the heart of the nation’s story. Yet for many, faith is mixed with traditional beliefs, or is a matter of identity more than personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray for a faith that is lived, not only inherited.
Father, let Timorese Christians not only hear Your Word but do it, and let their faith shape every part of life.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22
Pray for love of God’s Word
Pray for Scripture engagement in Tetun and the other languages of Timor-Leste, and for Bible teaching that helps people read and understand God’s Word for themselves.
Lord, give Timorese families a hunger for Your Word.
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:97
Pray for healing from the past
Timor-Leste endured decades of conflict and great loss of life before independence in 2002. Many families still carry grief and trauma from those years.
Father, heal the wounds of the past, and turn mourning into joy.
Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
Pray for young Timorese
With a median age of about 20, Timor-Leste has one of the youngest populations in the world. Jobs are scarce, and many young people queue at recruitment centers hoping for work abroad.
Lord, provide work and purpose for Timor-Leste’s young people, and let them trust in You.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Psalm 37:3
Pray for a sending Church
In October 2025, Timor-Leste became the eleventh member of ASEAN, opening new ties across Southeast Asia, where many peoples have never heard the Gospel. Pray that Timorese Christian Believers would carry the Gospel to their neighbors.
Lord Jesus, send Timorese Christian Believers to the unreached peoples of Asia.
Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.
John 20:21
Capital: Dili
Dominant religion: Christianity, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic
Languages: Tetun and Portuguese (official), with Indonesian, English, and more than a dozen local languages
People groups: 21
Unreached people groups: 1
Timor-Leste occupies the eastern half of the island of Timor, along with a small enclave in the west, between Indonesia and Australia. It is one of the world’s youngest nations, independent since 2002, and one of the few majority-Christian countries in Asia.
Tetun
Including the Tetun Dili of the capital, the largest community.
Mambai, Makasai, Kemak, and Baikeno
Among the larger peoples, each with its own language and traditions.
Bunak
About 77,000 people, among whom traditional religion remains strong and fewer than a quarter are Christian.
Smaller peoples
The Tokode, Dagoda, Galoli, Waima’a, and others.
Deaf Timorese
About 6,100 people.
Since independence, Timor-Leste has relied heavily on oil and gas revenues, and it is now working to build a wider economy.
Timor-Leste is unusual in this calendar. Most of its peoples are counted as reached, and its only frontier people group is the Deaf community.
Yet being reached is not the same as being discipled. For many Timorese, faith is woven together with traditional beliefs and sacred places, and many have never personally read the Scriptures or understood the Gospel for themselves. Evangelical Christian Believers make up only a small percentage of most peoples.
The Bunak and some smaller communities still hold strongly to traditional religion.
Deaf Timorese have almost no access to the Gospel in a language they understand.
Timor-Leste’s Church has the opportunity to grow deeper at home and to become a sending Church to the many unreached peoples of Southeast Asia.
Pray for Deaf Timorese
Pray for Deaf Timorese, the country’s only frontier people group, for sign-language Scripture and Deaf Christian leaders.
Lord, let Deaf Timorese encounter Your Word in a language they understand.
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
Isaiah 29:18
Pray for those holding traditional beliefs
Pray for the Bunak and other communities where traditional religion remains strong, that they would turn to the living God.
Father, let them come to know You as the living and true God.
how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
1 Thessalonians 1:9
Pray for those who know the name but not the person
Pray for Timorese who have grown up with the name of Jesus Christ but have never known Him personally.
Lord, let every Timorese know You and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:3
Gracious Father,
We bring Timor-Leste before You, a young nation with a long story of suffering and faith. You know Dili and every mountain village, every family that still carries grief, and every young person searching for work and purpose.
Deepen the faith of Your people. Let them know Jesus Christ personally, love Your Word, and live it out. Heal the wounds of the past, provide for the young, and draw those who hold to traditional beliefs to the living God. Let Deaf Timorese hear Your Word in their own language.
Raise up Timorese Christian Believers who will carry the Gospel across Southeast Asia, and let Timor-Leste become a blessing to the nations around it.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
