Thomas Ora, Dili, Timor Leste – Indonesian Christians have pledged help for hundreds of Timor-Leste farmers whose crops have been ravaged by the El Nino weather pattern.

The assistance follows an appeal by the head of the church's social action arm in Timor-Leste.

About 400 farmers and their families on Atauro Island, 25 kilometers north of Dili are in desperate need of help, said Caritas Dili director, Father Adrian Ola Duli.

"A priest in Atauro sent me a letter asking for help and I have been looking for donations of rice, noodles or cooking oil," Father Duli told more than 300 Indonesian Christians attending an ecumenical gathering in Dili on July 24.

Indonesian ambassador to Timor-Leste, Marcelinus Primanto Hendrasmoro and several Indonesian priests and nuns also attended the event.

Hendrasmoro said he hoped the Indonesian Christians would respond generously. "There are many ways we can help them," he said.

Theodorus Simarmatha, an embassy official and chairman of Dili-based Indonesian ecumenical group – also known as "Oekumene" – said he has asked members to offer donations.

The ecumenical group was established in 2006 and is involved various social activities such as helping poor families, said Father Urbanus Bunga Lolon, one of the group's coordinators.

"We can help those suffering in Atauro," said Father Lolon who is also the chairman of the Institute of Religious Sciences in Dili.

Robert Pangaribuan, who represented Christians of Batak origin – a major ethnic group from Indonesia's Sumatra Island – at the ecumenical meeting, said they will try to donate medicine and food.

Representatives from the Maluku, Sulawesi, Flores, and other ethnic groups also pledged to collect money that will be channeled through Caritas Dili.

Father Hermenigildo Almeida of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Atauro told ucanews.com on June 25, that El Nino has severely affected those living on the island.

"These people are mostly fishermen and corn farmers. They are suffering because there has been no rain," he said. "They need about 100 sacks of rice and noodles for more than 400 people."

Source: http://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesia-christians-answer-timor-leste-appeal/76679