Gunshots - hear them yourselves and pray

My brazilian friend recorded some of the gunshots near Audian on 25th may and I recorded them in my handphone. Here are the files in mp3 format. 1. with portuguese commentary, 2. more shots, 3. the loudest of the lot Well, I must say it is only interesting if you haven't hear gunshots upfront before(so NS guys in s'pore, you can skip this).

I can't do much now except to pray for the situation in East Timor. Will you join me in prayer together? please pray for:
1. Wisdom to be with the government and international forces as they deal with the situation.
2. God to keep every Timorese safe and provide for them.
3. God to protect missionaries, church pastors and workers that are still in East Timor.
4. Sound thinking and peace in the hearts and mind of the people. Especially those causing trouble right now and those in much fear.
5. Comfort for those who are now in mourning over the loss of their love ones.

Pray. It does wonders.

Driving through Crossfires

During the shootings, one of our korean friend was hit by a stray bullet in his neck when he peered out of his window. Thank God that the bullet miss his artery and he was quickly rush to the hospital by his korean housemate. Yeap. This is the guy who told me how he had to drive with his head down and gunshots were fired all over the place near his house along the Jacinto De Candido road. In the hospital, he saw 2 poliewomen died as they both couldn't survive their injuries.

Another stray bullet hit another friend's house in Vila Verde and richochet off the wall onto the roof. Again, they thank God that they were all in their bedrooms and not in the living where the bullet came in. Other places of action included Audian where an uncle said he watch the action from atop his apartment. He said, "this is like watching real-life movie" as the soldiers and police shot at each other along Audian. There was no shooting in my area at Bairo Pitte but I caught sight of this at Caicoli where shooting was also intense on 25th May. Although I was not in the thick of the action, I could feel the sadness and solemn mood of fellow friends and locals in Timor at that time. Right now, I wonder how they are feeling. I wish I could stay to do something but there was really nothing I could do except to pray. Hope I can be back soon.

Are lives that cheap?

Sadly to say, after 4 years of near stability, East Timor is going back to the days of violence. I tried to gather as much information as possible from locals and other foreign workers and here's what I've got thus far.(remember, it is not 100% accurate. perhaps close to it)

Yesterday(25 may), soldiers surrounded the Police HQ in Caicoli and fought with them. According to various sources, some police officers resigned(or left the force) and took weapons with them with the intention of joining the renegade soldiers. The army got wind of the news and quickly surrounded them to prevent them from joining the opposing forces. One soldier started shooting and all hell broke loose. A ceasefire was negotiated(the police force must surrender their arms). However, when they did that, some soldiers shot at them and killed 9 and injured 27 others. Some police fled to the UN compound(Obrigado Barracks) and seek refuge there.

This morning, shots were fired at Obrigado Barracks by the army and their target is an obvious one; the police.(the military and the police force has not seen eye to eye in the past but this is too much!) The UN clinic now is a busy one with wounded police from yesterday's shootings. Read timorsunhine.blogspot.com for more details.

The shooting of the police is beyond logic. Some soldiers had become bloodthirsty for the police had did them no harm at all but they are bend on killing them. No one knows why. It seems that their aim now is to kill, kill and kill. I already don't understand why the rebels, led by Major Alfredo, shot at innocent soldiers collecting their paycheck. And now, even the soldiers themselves begin to behave like the rebels. Are lives that cheap???? This is really disturbing.

Dying for Nothing

There are now recent shootings in Dili(just this morning, there is an exchange of gunfire near the airport between soldiers and renegade ones). Yesterday 2 soldiers were killed and 8 others were injured by renegade military police. The soldiers, who were receiving their pay, were caught off-guard at Fatu Ahi, a place near the Becora bus terminal. Previously, we thought the ex-soldiers may be the ones staging an attack but now, we have another problem - the ex-military police(also soldiers).

Background: Major Alfredo, the commander of the Military Police, voiced his unhappiness on two things: 1. He did not liked the leadership of the military(F-FDTL) and 2. He was unhappy that the military shot the protesters on 28 April, killing an unknown amount of people(news report 5 killed, many said more than 50 were killed). So he decided to use violence to convey his message. Some of them left their barracks from F-FDTL HQ and carried off a container of weapons with them to Aileu, citing that they are going there to calm the situation. However, Tuar Matan Ruak, the commander of F-FDTL said F-FDTL did not gave them that command. The renegade soldiers refused to return to their barracks after going to Aileu and are now causing unrest in Dili.

For what? All for the sake of conveying his message of unhappiness and disatisfaction of F-FDTL and the government. They NEVER pause to think:"Are the lives worth it?". 2 soldiers were killed and who knows how many family members they left behind and depend on them for food and money. I feel very sad that 2 persons died for nothing. A few days ago, Alfredo said he wanted a dialogue with the government to resolve the issues, but now he has chosen to kill. Why are we so foolish at times?

"O Lord, please save us all. The world needs you badly. Call us from darkness into your marvellous light" ~ "...that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light" 1 Peter 2:9b(NASB)