"With everything that has happened to the East Timorese people, it is so important that people in the faith community stand with them, so that they know they are not abandoned"-- Adrienne Fong

"I would call on people of faith to do what the East Timorese people cannot, and that is to be a voice for them."-- Kristen Sundell

Adrienne Fong and Kristen Sundell are seldom in direct contact with each other, but these two United Methodists have at least one thing in common: both are passionate advocates for peace and justice in East Timor.

As the California Nevada Conference Peace and Justice Coordinator, Ms. Fong is involved in various issues: the landmine campaign, gun control, homelessness, anti-nuclear issues, etc. But since she got involved in East Timor advocacy six years ago, almost every year she participates in acts of civil disobedience to call attention to East Timor and the people's quest for freedom, peace and reconciliation in their land.

Ms. Fong has never been to East Timor, but she has been exposed to various human sufferings around the world. As a nurse, she has worked with refugees from Rwanda and Burundi in the former Zaire. "My experience in Africa has made me stronger in my advocacy for East Timor," she said. "For me to be silent is to give approval to what our government is doing or not doing in the midst of injustice in the world."

When Kristen Sundell visited East Timor for the first time in 1998, she went with the blessings and the financial support of her local church, the Jonesville United Methodist Church in the Troy Annual Conference. She and her companion arrived in East Timor three months after the fall of President Suharto when a sense of euphoria and anticipation hung in the air. Speech forums were being organized in which two to three thousand people came, and speakers took turns using the microphone to freely express their political views.

But the moment of freedom was short-lived. Even in these forums, Ms. Sundell observed the foreboding presence of militia groups in the company of Indonesian security forces and government officials.

Ms. Sundell returned to East Timor on August 21 as a U.N. accredited observer of the consultation process on self-determination. She represented the International Federation for East Timor, a team of 140 observers from nine countries. She and her group noted tactics of intimidation used by the pro-Indonesia militias to discourage people from voting. Despite the harrassment and threats, however, 98 per cent of registered East Timorese voters cast their ballots on August 30.

On September 5, the UN announced that 78.5 per cent of the people of East Timor voted for independence. Shortly thereafter, the militias, backed by Indonesian police mounted a massive attack against pro-independence targets. In the midst of the burning, looting and killing, foreign journalists, international observers including Ms. Sundell’s team, and subsequently even United Nations personnel had to be evacuated from East Timor.

When the government of Indonesia finally agreed to allow UN peacekeepers into East Timor, the humanitarian catastrophe had reached an unimaginable magnitude: refugees in the hundreds of thousands had been forcibly relocated to militia-run camps in West Timor and other adjoining provinces of Indonesia, or had fled to the mountains of East Timor.

Ms. Sundell who firmly believes that it is "the calling of Christians to be agents of justice and peace in the world," asks that U.S. Christians contact their legislators to support bills in Congress that would help bring about peace and freedom in East Timor. (H.R. 2895 in the House of Representatives and its Senate version, S1568 are some examples.)

Ms. Fong, on the other hand urges the church community to learn, pray but also to act upon their faith by urging their government to immediately send humanitarian aid to East Timor and to help rebuild East Timor, following the biblical mandate "to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God" (Micah 6:8). After her experience in Rwanda and in the Congo, Ms. Fong also feels strongly about the need to establish a war crimes tribunal to investigate crimes and hold accountable those responsible for the crimes committed against the East Timorese people.

October 11, 1999