Revival Stories

The 1965 Timor Revival


The island of Timor, located a little north of Australia, had initially been colonized by the Dutch in the 1600’s. Christianity was introduced to the indigenous people early on, but unfortunately local occult practices persisted into the 20th century. Many churchgoers there tenaciously held on to their amulets and charms to ward off evil or to bring good luck. Even in the 1960’s, over 90 percent of self-proclaimed Christians in Timor regularly visited shamans, and belief in the use of magic and sorcery was widespread. Simultaneously, the church in Timor was rife with alcoholism and sexual promiscuity. And there was a profound shortage of trained Christian ministers, with one pastor often having to care for dozens of churches. It was a place that was in desperate need of revival fire.

Starting in the summer of 1964, God stirred up the church with supernatural signs of His presence. He sent an Indonesian evangelist to the island to preach and to bring healing to the deaf, the blind, and the lame. God also began giving local believers visions of Jesus and possible judgment. As a result of these things, a small group of Christians set their minds to begin laboring in prayer for revival.

As people’s hunger for God and revival prayer intensified, in 1965, God sent more and more evangelists and raised up new leaders. One such leader was Hennie Tunli’u, a local woman in her mid-20’s, who sensed God calling her into ministry through clear visions of Jesus Christ. As the crowds listened to God’s servants, hundreds of young people would choose to follow Christ, and many would gather up their occult talismans and burn them at the altar.

It was on a Sunday, September 26th 1965, that 200 believers gathered at Maranatha Church in the city of Soe to seek the Lord. As they lifted up their voices in prayer, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit tangibly flooded that congregation. There were the sounds of rushing winds, like a hurricane surging through the room. Police nearby sounded the fire alarm as they perceived what seemed like flames raging around the church. Yet, this was not a physical fire. Many inside the building were so overwhelmed by God’s presence that they fell to the ground and wept inconsolably. Close to 1000 people trusted in Christ that day, and in the next month at least another 9000 would gladly hear and receive the Gospel.

Many of the youth received training in the Scriptures and prayer and worship. They confessed their sins to one another and challenged others to reject their occult practices. Then they formed small teams to go out to share about Jesus and to powerfully heal the sick. Often they would give prophetic words and see visions from God, and mighty signs and miracles took place around them. As more than 200 of these teams made their way across the island, Timor would see more than 30,000 healed of their illnesses, miraculous multiplication of food, supernatural light during nighttime jungle travel, and several reports of people being raised from the dead! Over the next 5 years, crime dwindled and churches grew in number. Believers became increasingly devoted to the Word and passionate about following Jesus. Over 200,000 people turned from sin and put their faith in Christ, and many missionaries would be sent out to nations as far away as Japan, Pakistan, and Germany.


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

  1. How would you summarize the condition of the church in Timor before revival arrived in 1965? What factors caused this?
  2. What catalyzed the Christians in Timor to start praying for revival?
  3. What do you think it must have been like to live in Timor during the revival years of 1965-1970? What signs of God’s presence would you personally want most to see in your own lifetime?


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