By Ivan Da Costa Pinheiro

The email below came from Ivan Da Costa Pinheiro. (The Portuguese 'nh' is the equivalent of the Spanish ‘ñ’ and is pronounced the same way. Timor-Leste was a colony of Portugal before). Timor-Leste is now the most Catholic country in Asia, with 93.20% of its population of 767,000 being members of the Church. 81.30% of the more than 90 million people of the Philippines are Catholics. In terms of numbers the Philippines has the most Catholics of any country in Asia and the third highest in the world, behind Brazil and Mexico.

Ivan Da Costa Pinheiro

Hi! I'm from Timor-Leste or East Timor. I'm studying in Manila right now. I came to know Misyon through an Irish priest, Columban Father John Keenan, a chaplain in Centro Escolar University where I was studying at the time. He introduced me to the magazine after a Mass in the chapel. At first, I felt reluctant to accept it because I had not gone through the other book that I had borrowed from the chapel. However, when I read the magazine, I found it inspiring and felt the same way as with the other book. They were inspiring, giving hope of life, answering my doubts, strengthening my faith and reminding me not to plunge into the pleasures of the earthly life.

Let's hope and pray to have fear of the Lord which is the beginning of knowledge. We should not trust our own mind and instead we must depend on Him. May we all love and serve one another as we take good care of our home, the earth. God bless all of us.

National Flag of Timor-Leste

Numerals in Tetum
Some are very similar to or the same as those in Filipino languages.

* ida - 'one'
* rua - 'two'
* tolu - 'three'
* haat - 'four'
* lima - 'five'
* neen - 'six'
* hitu - 'seven'
* ualu - 'eight'
* sia - 'nine'
* sanulu - 'ten'

Government Palace in Dili, the capital