Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 3(2),  Winter 2022 

Sebahene, Book Review  58 

  

Book Review 

 

Relentless Love: Living Out Integral Mission to Combat 

Poverty, Injustice and Conflict 
By Graham Joseph Hill, Ed. 

 
Reviewed by Alfred Sebahene 

 
 

   
 

Carlisle, Cumbria, UK. Langham Global Library: 

$27.44 

 

My four months’ journey of reading Relentless 

Love has refreshed and challenged me to look back into 

and reflect on my thirty years of ministry in the Church 

of God in Africa as both a pastor and an academic. Yes, 

some of the contributors’ biblical teachings in the book 

have challenged me to understand who I am and what 

my responsibility is as a child of God in Tanzania and 

a world that is not mine. The main theme of the book 

is the “resilience” of communities and nations in their 

efforts to comply with the subtitle of the book, Living 

Out Integral Mission to Combat Poverty, Injustice and 

Conflict. The book is a collation of the sessions and 

papers shared at the triennial Micah Global 

consultation held in the Philippines in 2019. The many 

contributors, motivated by and rooted in their variety of 

Christian traditions and experiences, combine to 

provide readers with a comprehensive and compelling 

real-world study of the ideas and practices of 

“resilience” as it relates to integral mission.  

This timely and significant word, which in simple 

language means the capacity to recover quickly from 

difficulties, is well-reflected in the context of “integral 

mission.” In my view, nothing more important has been 

highlighted in the entire book than writers, knowingly 

or unknowingly, being guided by the gospel truth about 

Missio Dei – what God does in the world to make “a 

new heaven and a new earth” (xvii). Among the many 

issues explored are worship, compassion, gender, 

urban poverty and development, North-South 

relations, partnership, the theology of peace and justice, 

local church ministry, corruption, and much more. And 

always the discussion comes back to resilience in joining 

with God in the Missio Dei. 

There are over fifty contributors to the thirty-two 

chapters of the book, and every one, in whatever 

approach, interest, focus, knowledge, expertise in the 

field, and writing, opens the door for the Church, 

theological students, pastors, and laymen and women to 

ask the question why so many churches have not been 

living out integral mission and have therefore become 

less effective in addressing or combatting poverty, 

injustice, and conflict. We need also to evaluate the 

performance of governmental actors, for the Church’s 

witness should not be undermined in the public arena. 

Still, let the biblical metaphor of “the speck in the 

government’s eye” being emphasized at the cost of “the 

plank in the churches’ eye,” not be the case for 

Christians. 

The government reference is not only important, 

but of special interest to me, because of my public 

theological inclination and passion to see how a 

reflective Christian may go about doing theology in a 

way that contributes to public issues affecting society.  

Whether there was an agreement among 

contributors or they were asked to do so, or it is by mere 

coincidence, on reading the book, I noted right from 

the endorsers, to the words of the foreword, preface 

and to the entire Parts I-V of the book, that the word 

“call” has a strong foot in the book. Interestingly, the 

contributors’ tone on the word “call” is, in my view, 

deliberately conversational and also homiletic in parts, 

covering the themes of the Church, poverty, injustice, 

and conflict.  

Having noted this unique appearance of the book, 

I took interest in the style and approach of the leaning 

and emphasis on “call.” Their interpretation is well-

located and significantly broad. I will give a few 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 3(2),  Winter 2022 

Sebahene, Book Review  59 

  

examples. Most contributors emphasize the whole 

Church and each single believer as being called and 

sent; others, in the same spirit, emphasize the word 

“call” in a variety of ways. For example, called… for a 

renewal of faith and energy; called out to take 

responsibility; to influence governments and speak to 

power; to love and repentance in all areas of life; to 

serve individuals, people groups, and whole cultures, to 

serve Jesus and his world; to declare the whole gospel 

to the whole world, in word, sign, and deed, and to keep 

together, to mention a few. This special trajectory on 

the word “call” cannot be ignored for it brings weight to 

the book.  

One small theological/cultural/geographical issue I 

find with the book arises from my African 

understanding of the sense of community as well as my 

understanding of an aspect of the doctrine of the 

Church. The Church can and should impact every 

aspect of God’s world regardless of what is happening 

to her and where God placed it.  

My concern is that the entire book provides a 

picture of unbalanced readership location for the book. 

As I read it, it is as if Relentless Love is a good piece of 

work that is only or relatively more applicable for 

Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, and Asia. In fact, 

some aspects of the book stand out only and 

immediately for readers from these geographical 

locations. I know some of the authors in the book are 

from the Global South, but most seem to be from the 

Global North. This is not a problem, but for a well-

adjusted focus and in the future, we shall need more 

commentary from leaders in the Global South. A book 

like this needs more authors from the Global South 

whose discussion on issues of combatting poverty, 

injustice, and conflict is global and not for a particular 

region. This will avoid the common way of viewing the 

globe. I would rather emphasize that this book, which 

is fairly well-painted by its biblical truth and, in many 

ways, culturally applicable, should be and is intended 

for a wider readership. In fact, I see the book as a wake-

up call for the global Church, where evangelical 

reflections on mission by Church leaders are also much 

needed. 

So, I would wish to remind all who read this 

volume to remember that power to bring 

transformation should always be drawn from individual 

believers in the global Church being in Christ and his 

good news, especially in relation to integral mission 

which has to flow from believers being in Christ (xxvii). 

In fact, the book makes it clear that the power to bring 

transformation is drawn from our being in Christ and 

his good news, which we are called to proclaim and 

demonstrate (xxviii) regardless of where we live and/or 

despite the different levels of poverty, injustice, and 

conflict we experience.  

Likewise, all church communities, regardless of 

boundaries, should continue to reflect upon their 

engagement with the world. Let us not lose sight that the 

biblical-theological bases that frame the Church’s 

mission hinge on building and nurturing the body of 

Christ. And all churches have enormous God-given 

potential for empowering individuals and communities 

with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and strategies they 

need to address poverty, injustice, and conflict.  

That said, I agree with much of the current 

research, testimonies, and facts about the global shift of 

the center of gravity in the Christian world, and that it 

keeps shifting away from Europe and North America, 

and toward Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania, 

where a larger percentage of all Christians now live. 

This brings me to another point that needs brief 

mention, which is that the book is written exclusively in 

English with authors forming an international team. 

This book needs to be written in and/or translated into 

many languages.  

Beyond such minor concerns, I find the book 

biblically and theologically sound. I know not everyone 

will agree with every word in this book. Yet it is my hope 

that it will enjoy a wide readership and help many to 

appreciate the rich knowledge in it that suggests that 

when local churches are equipped and enabled to 

understand and fulfill their God-given mandate to bring 

whole life transformation to their communities, the 

result is flourishing and resilient communities. I pray 

that, through this book, the Church will be guided 

through the process of learning and change, leading to 

practical church-based actions to act by living out 

integral mission and thus to combat poverty, injustice, 

and conflict. 

 
 

 

Alfred Sebahene is Senior Priest and Canon 

Theologian in the Anglican Church of Tanzania. 

He has been in parish ministry for fifteen years and 

serves as Head of the Department of Theology and 

Religious Studies at St John’s University of 

Tanzania in Dodoma, where he also coordinates 

the Unit for the Study of Corruption. 

 

Author email:  asebahene@sjut.ac.tz  
 

 

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