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Mutonono, Book Review  73 

   

Book Review 

 

The God that the Poor Seek: Conversion, Context, and 

the World of the Vulnerable 
by Rupen Das 

 
Reviewed by Dwight S.M. Mutonono 

 
 

  
 

Carlisle, Cumbria, UK. Langham Global Library. 

2022. £17,99 

 

This book grapples with the question, “What 

makes the poor seek God?” How and why do they 

choose to worship Jesus Christ (7)? In order to answer 

these questions and discern how God works in the lives 

of the poor, Das turns to looking at how conversions 

happen among them. In the process, Das explores 

several elements that are crucial for Christian 

development practitioners pursuing holistic efforts to 

keep in mind as they work with the poor. Perhaps first 

and foremost among these is that research strongly 

indicates that there is a clear link between poverty and 

spirituality (8) in that the poor seek divine intervention 

and their spirituality helps them cope with poverty (95-

96, 181, 196); Das thus finds it unfortunate that their 

spirituality is often ignored by those who work with 

them (195).  

The voices of people experiencing poverty and 

how they converted to Christianity is the focus of the 

book. This is especially dear to Das, because so often 

the poor do not get to tell their own stories. Hence, a 

large portion of the book (chapters 5 & 6) presents 

snippets from direct conversations with people living in 

poverty in Syrian and Indian contexts. The types of 

poverty are different, but the unfiltered voices of the 

people themselves are captured.  

The first section of the book (chapters 1-4) 

provides a fascinating background to understanding 

Christian conversion through church history. 

Historically, conversion to Christianity is more a 

process than an event, with the catechetical system 

being pivotal to early church practice. Current 

expectations of personal decision-making are relatively 

new in church practice. Das argues that the “modern 

evangelical understanding of conversion has its root in 

the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards (and to a certain 

degree the Anabaptists)” (38). In the case of poverty, 

however, the sense of helplessness and vulnerability of 

the poor becomes all-encompassing due to their 

powerlessness to change the structures that led to their 

poverty (195). In this context, conversions and 

spirituality enable them to address the deep yearning 

for a God who is real (161).  

The final section of the book analyses the stories 

in chapter 5-6 and reaches the conclusion that 

“conversion was a process punctuated by encounters, 

experiences, and decisions at various points and 

accompanied by a growing understanding of who Christ 

is and what he has done for them” (168). A second 

major finding is that often, supernatural encounters 

proved decisive in people’s resolutions to leave their 

former faith and convert to Christianity. In general, it 

was not a yearning for life after death or some other 

doctrinal concern that brought them to Christ. Instead, 

“they wanted a God who is real in the midst of the 

challenges and evils of life” (186). These insights are 

highly relevant for Christian development practitioners 

to understand more fully the spirituality of the people 

they work with. 

The biggest learning point for me in this book was 

Das’s walk through Christian history in relation to 

conversion. Throughout my life in Zimbabwe, I have 

been greatly influenced by evangelical Christianity, in 

which a personal decision is critical to conversion. I 

realize now, however, that socialization and liturgical 

acts were very much part of the conversion process 

throughout most of Christian history (24). According to 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(2),  Winter 2023 

Mutonono, Book Review  74 

   

Das, it was the entrance of Constantine into the church 

that contributed to a weakening of an early church 

tradition that was effective. Das writes that “though 

Constantine had a life-transforming experience…he 

remained unbaptized and uncatechized, yet was 

considered a Christian” (35). After Constantine, it 

became normal for people, even whole nations to be 

admitted into the church without the necessity of 

catechesis, as had, prior to this, always been the case. 

Here again, Das’ exploration has implications for how 

Christian development practitioners interact with the 

churches and conceive of their work in function of 

helping to advance spiritual formation as part of their 

integrative efforts. 

Another key issue for Das is utilitarianism. He 

acknowledges that people may become followers of 

Christ for utilitarian reasons (184). Yet my experience 

in the African church causes me to ponder the quality 

of Christianity or depth of conversion people 

experience. While the powerful effects of conversion 

should not be discounted, especially in circumstances 

in which people need God to break in and do 

something about their situation, I wonder about what 

happens if the economic situation changes for the 

better, and people experience upward social mobility? 

If there is a link between poverty and spirituality, is that 

not also an explanation for why materially developed or 

more prosperous parts of the world experience a 

decline in Christianity? Are the conversions Das 

describes deep enough to survive hunger and suffering 

as Paul discusses in Philippians 4:12-13? If so, what role 

should Christian development agencies play to learn 

from the poor while also helping foster deeper spiritual 

maturity? 

My final thought around conversion is that it is not 

“just a punctiliar event—a decision that can be dated” 

(170). It encompasses the whole process of salvation 

from regeneration, justification through to 

sanctification, and glorification. We are continually 

being saved and must continually repent and turn 

towards God in different ways as we grow in the faith.  

Das’s book is a great contribution to missiological 

and developmental issues around people living with 

poverty. His research and insight into conversions and 

spiritual insights of the poor challenge Christian 

development practitioners committed to both material 

and spiritual aspects of life to listen to and learn from 

the poor (Chapter 4) on matters of the integration of 

evangelism and spiritual formation. Outsiders generally 

think for, speak for, and act on behalf of people in 

material poverty. This book lets the poor speak for 

themselves. It is a voice from the margins, articulating 

issues in the unfiltered way that the disenfranchised 

understand them. This is the primary intent of the 

book, and Das achieves it very well. His historical 

discussion on conversion is likewise incisive and useful.    

 
 

 

Dwight S.M. Mutonono (DMin, PhD Intercultural 

Studies candidate) serves his church, Faith 

Ministries, on the international council. He was 

previously the Executive Director of Africa 

Leadership and Management Academy in Harare, 

Zimbabwe. He is married and has two grown 

children. 

 

Author email: dwight.mutonono@asburyseminary.edu  
 

 
 


