Jaya Kumar Christian Pedagogy PDF

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Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

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Table of Contents:
1. Jayakumar Christian Receives "Alumnus of the Year" Award

2. Expenditure or investment?
3. Poverty as a Disempowering System (Brynt Meyers)
4. BOOK REVIEW: GOD OF THE EMPTY-HANDED
5. Imagining a New Future in the Midst of Poverty
6. Theirs is the Kingdom (Interview)
7. Serving the Poor While Walking with Them
8. Powering Down (Interview)
9. Cities, the poor and our response
10. A paradigm for mission - a Lukan Perspective- Bible study
11. Faith and International Development - A force for good? (audio/ Podcast)
12. SUBMISSION, SUBVERSION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
13. Our bias is a message Let the little children come . . . . .
14. ADDRESSING POVERTY AND OPPRESSION-spiritual engagement
15. Evaluating an ADP – Next Generation Questions

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After coming from DTI Shantiniketan (21st to 24th October 2008) I realized that we
have very scanty knowledge about the poverty World Vision‘s talks about. As Dr.
Jaya Kumar Christian‘s model of Poverty was the focus of the DTI module on
Poverty and development, so I thought why not find out what the author talks about it
through different writings. Thus I surfed the internet and have come out with 15
different articles written by Dr. Jaya Kumar Christian as well as by others on Dr.
Jaya‘s work.
My intention of compiling various articles of Dr. Christian is to bring the different
articles in one place. Secondly, these articles will guide us in addressing the poverty
issues prevalent in the communities we work with.
Compiled By:
Jyoti Kumar Mukhia
ADP Malda
29th October 2008

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Jayakumar Christian Receives "Alumnus of the Year" Award
On June 13, Provost Sherwood Lingenfelter presented Dr. Jayakumar Christian (Fuller Ph.D., '94), from New
Delhi, India, the seminary's highest honor that can be bestowed upon an alumnus. The presentation was made at
the School of World Mission's 2002 Graduation Banquet at the Brookside Country Club in Pasadena, California.
In introducing Christian as "Alumnus of the Year," Dean Hirsch, president and CEO of World Vision
International, told the 300 guests: "During Dr. Christian's 24 years with World Vision, first as a director of northern
India and now as director of transformational development, he has planned and implemented numerous projects that
have transformed lives, healed families, and empowered communities among India's impoverished and
marginalized."
Ministering in the country with the world's second-largest population (more than 100 million people), known for
its 50-percent illiteracy and high birthrate, Christian's World Vision teams live and work among the poverty-stricken
millions in India's urban areas. The teams teach adults to read, provide education for the children, train young people
in trades, promote basic health care, counsel broken families, and improve community life. "We teach people who
think that they have no hope that their lives are worthwhile," says Christian.
Although born into a family of privilege in India, young Jayakumar made a decision early in life to be a
blessing to the poor and live up to the family name "Christian" that had been adapted by his Hindu grandfather upon
conversion to Christianity.
After Christian earned his master's degree while teaching at the Asian Institute of Christian Communication in
India, he met School of World Mission professors Viggo Soggard and Charles Kraft, who suggested that he study for
his doctorate at Fuller. Although it took him three years to be able to come to the United States to study, he says, "My
time at Fuller was more than an academic exercise. I came out of seminary deeply enriched by my encounters with
the godly faculty."
As adjunct associate professor of development and urban mission, Christian teaches two School of World
Mission classes at Fuller during the Summer Quarter: "Understanding Poverty" and "Empowering the Poor."

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Jayakumar Christian: Expenditure or investment?

Jayakumar Christian / New Delhi October 16, 2007
Three things that happened around the beginning of this year should have made a difference for the over 47 per cent
children in India who are malnourished.
Firstly, on December 13, 2006, the Supreme Court passed landmark orders on writ petition number 196 of 2001
(PUCL vs GoI and others) making it mandatory for the government to establish ‗anganwadi‘ centres under the
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) if there are more than 40 children under six in an area and a demand
is raised.
Secondly, just a few months before that, the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS3) found that in all children
under the age of three, over one-third are stunted (34.3 per cent), two children out of every five are underweight and
almost three-fourths of them are anaemic.
But the more startling figure, that justifies the PM‘s letter (details in the next paragraph), comes out in comparison
with the second National Family Health Survey (NFHS2) carried out in 1998-99. Children under three who are
underweight dropped just one percentage point (from 47 per cent to 46 per cent) from NFHS2 to NFHS3.
And finally, in January this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did something unprecedented — in a strongly
worded letter to state chief ministers, he said that ―a massive programme to improve health and nutrition had failed.‖
He said that the ICDS, the biggest such programme in the world, had been ―poorly implemented‖ and the figures are
―startling‖ and called for ―urgent action‖.
Activists like those belonging to the Right to Food campaign have called for ―urgent action‖ through the
―Universalisation of ICDS with Quality‖. As I said in the beginning, this should have made a difference. But it did not.
In India we get easily tricked into believing that laws, ordinances and speeches are the reality. Nothing moves
forward without a budgetary allocation in the Union Budget. The political will of the country‘s leadership is best
reflected when the finance minister stands up to make the Budget speech in Parliament. So, the speech activists can
only express dismay that ―the allocation for ICDS (Rs 4,761 crore) has barely increased in real terms, and is virtually
unchanged as a proportion of GDP.‖
―Universalisation with quality‖ of the ICDS needs investments — as much as Rs 9,600 crore which is recommended
by the National Advisory Council. One wonders if this has taken a back seat because children constitute an
unproductive section of our economy.
There is a definite reluctance to convert rhetoric into a budgetary allocation for the universalisation of ICDS. Can‘t we
consider budgetary allocation into ICDS as an investment into our growth? The World Bank reports that every year
the Indian economy leaks $10 billion due to malnutrition. Can‘t this allocation be seen as an investment to plug at
least a part of this leak? Maybe the fact that addressing malnutrition would add a 2-3 per cent growth to our GDP
growth figures will motivate this investment.
Would the much acclaimed goal of ―inclusive growth‖ reflected in the National Common Minimum Programme of the
United Progressive Alliance and the Planning Commission‘s work on the Eleventh Five-year Plan, include these
children too? The fact of the matter is if we do not include these 47 per cent of the children who depend on quality
ICDS, ‗growth‘ may never be inclusive. We may even miss the dream of a double-digit growth or, if we attain the
dream, it would be at best the dream of a few!
Swift action is needed if we must produce a growth that has depth and integrity. Political rhetoric must be converted
into political will, if change must happen — our children just cannot wait.
The writer is currently National Director of World Vision India (Jayakumar Christian: Expenditure or investment?

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Poverty as a Disempowering System

by Bryant Myers
Last year I shared a reflection on the nature of poverty, making the argument that
poverty is understood best as relationships that don‘t work. I‘d like to take that
discussion a little further by sharing the work of my friend and colleague, Jayakumar
Christian.
Christian is a long-time development promoter in India who recently took his Ph.D. at
Fuller Seminary in intercultural studies. Christians suggest that the poor live in a
complex framework of interacting systems, including a personal system, a social
system, a spiritual/religious system that is both personal and social, and a cultural
system.
These systems work interactively in ways that disempower the poor. Each part of the
system creates its own particular contribution to this disempowerment through what
Christian calls captivity to god-complexes of the non-poor, deception by the
principalities and powers, inadequacies in world view, and suffering from a marred
identity.
Let me explain what Christian means by these terms.
Captivity to god complexes of the non-poor - the social system
We are well aware that the social system in which the poor live reinforces their
powerlessness by exclusion and exploitation, but Christian goes deeper than this. He
points out that the non-poor understand themselves as superior, necessary, and
anointed to rule and that this creates a temptation to play god in the lives of the poor.
They play god through their use of religious systems, mass media, law, and government
policies. The non-poor create the narratives, structures, and systems that justify and
rationalize their privileged positions. The result is that the poor become captive to these
god-complexes of the non-poor.
According to Christian, the non-poor create their god-complexes by:
Seeking to absolutize themselves in the lives of the poor.

Citing the "eternal yesterday" as the justification for influencing the "eternal
tomorrow" of the poor.
Influencing areas of life that are beyond their scope of influencing. For example,
the landlord chooses the names of the children or decides who will marry whom.
Claiming immutability for their power over the poor by assuming their can never
be power sharing.

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Interacting with other non-poor in ways that safeguard and enhance each other‘s
power.
This captivity finds its concrete expression in the interactive outworking of the social,
political, economic, religious, and cultural systems by constructing a web of lies and
deceit that mediate power over the poor, often with no need of force.
In addition, this systemic captivity operates at many levels. The local police,
landowners, and religious leaders form the micro expression. They in turn are linked to,
and usually subservient to, regional and national business, political, judicial, and
religious leaders. They form the macro level of the god-complexes. In turn, these are
imbedded in global systems represented by transnational corporations, the international
financial institutions (World Bank, IMF, etc.), the UN system, and the like, who also play
god in the lives of the poor, albeit from a distance. Finally, Christian reminds us that all
these levels exist within a cosmic system in which the principalities and powers work out
their rebellion against God and God‘s intentions for human life in creation.
Building on Walter wink, Christian goes on to point out that these god-complexes,
especially at the level of systems and structures, have an ideological center, an inner
reality that governs and holds together the structures, systems, and people who inhabit
them. This inner reality provides the inner logic and interpretations for ultimate values of
life and events. Transformational development that fails to assert the truth of God over
these justifying narratives leaves the structural side of poverty and its causes
untouched.
Deception by principalities and powers - the spiritual system
While acknowledging the impact of the Fall and sin on individual human beings as a
spiritual problem, Christian alerts us to another result of the Fall, the continuing
deception by the principalities and powers. The powerlessness of the poor is reinforced
by the fear and deceit created by the "god of this age that has blinded the minds of
unbelievers" (2 Cor. 4:4) and the "trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his
will" (2 Tim. 2:26). Both the poor and the non-poor are "in slavery under the basic
principles of the world" (Gal 4:3).
The primary expression of this deception is through the ideological center or inner
reality of the systems, structures, and legitimating narratives through which the non-
poor play god in the lives of the poor. But there is a deeper truth as well.
Christian also is affirming that it is not simply human beings, and the social systems
within which they live, that create and sustain poverty. There is a cosmic adversary who
also is working against life. This adversary is "a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).
Any account of poverty that ignores the reality of the Evil One lacks the full explanatory
power that the Bible offers
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Inadequacies in worldview - the cultural system
Christian moves on to the powerlessness that is reinforced by what he calls

inadequacies in worldview. Christian points to the disempowerment idea of karma within
a Hindu context that tells the poor that their current condition is a just response to their
former life and something that must be accepted if they are to have a better life the next
time around. when the poor are invited to try and change their present condition, their
worldview tells them that they are being invited to sin.
In another example of a worldview supporting oppressive social relationships., the

Brahman learn from their Hindu tradition that they were made from the head of god and
so are suppose to rule. The harijan are taught that they were made from lower parts of
god and are thus inferior by nature.
Every culture has beliefs that disempower people, discourage change, and label
oppressive relationships as sacrosanct and ordained. This is what Christian means by
inadequacies in worldview that disempower the poor.
The marred identity of the poor - the personal system
Christian concludes his explanation by showing how the identity of the poor is marred
by this deceptive constellation of poverty by disempowering through captivity to god-
complexes, deception by principalities and powers, and inadequate worldview
understandings. This happens in two ways.
First, the poor systematically are excluded as actors. The voice of the poor is regarded
as "damaged goods." The powerful do not expect the poor to have anything to offer,
since they have been labeled, usually by the non-poor, as lazy, ignorant and
superstitious. Sadly, sometimes the development agency and its practitioners are so full
of their own expertise that they treat the poor in a similar way.
Second, a lifetime of deception, captivity to god-complexes, and exclusion is

internalized by the poor in a way that mars their identity in a deep, profound, and tragic
sense. The poor forget who they are and can no longer recall their true vocation. They
believe they are less than other human beings and are truly god-forsaken. This is the
deepest expression of poverty. The poor come to believe that they are and always
meant to be without value, without gifts.
Internalization of the grind of poverty and the messages of non-value from the non-poor
and social systems result in what Augustine Musopole, a Jesuit from Cameroon, calls a
poverty of being. "This is where the African feels his poverty most: a poverty of being, in
which poor Africans have come to believe they are no good and cannot get things right."

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So deeply imbedded in this kind of poverty that good news is no longer believable.
Sitting at a campfire in the Kalahari Desert, I heard a San woman say, in response to
hearing the news that the Son of God had dies for her sins, that she could believe that
God would let his son die for a white man, and that maybe she could believe that God
might let his son die for a black man, but she could never accept the idea that God
would let his son die for a San. This is spiritual and psychological poverty of the deepest
kind. It is the root of fatalism.
When the poor accept their subhumanness as normative and immutable, their poverty is
complete and permanent unless the issue of their marred identity is addressed and they
are helped to recover their identity as children of God, made in God‘s image, given gifts
by God so they could fulfill their true vocation as productive stewards in the world God
made for them.
Bryant Myers, "Poverty as a Disempowering System," MARC Newsletter, #98-3,

September, 1998, pp. 3,
BOOK REVIEW: GOD OF THE EMPTY-HANDED, BY JAYAKUMAR CHRISTIAN.
Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough.(God of the Empty-Handed Book Review)
Why has the world been losing the war on poverty, despite humanity's best efforts and
intentions? How should the Christian Church integrate personal faith with issues of
poverty? These are some of the questions which underlie this book.
Jayakumar Christian, in God Of The Empty-Handed, takes a vast and meticulously

researched sweep over the problem of global poverty - both from a secular and from a
Christian point of view. He begins by outlining major secular assumptions on poverty,
and major development theories of the past 40 years. Then he moves into the
assumptions of liberation theology and evangelical Christianity, discussing several
historical responses of the Church. In each case, he details the strengths and
weaknesses of the Church's involvement, with some revealing observations
(evangelism may succeed where social programmes fail - and vice versa).
One has to smile at the names of theologians whom Christian cites alongside each
other without skipping a beat - Küng and Newbigin, Nolan and Volf. One wonders where
this is all going. But the unsuspecting reader does not know just what a surprise
Christian has in store in Chapter 7, "Principalities and Powers and Poverty", where the
book suddenly changes gear.

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HAS THE WORLD BEEN WINNING AGAINST POVERTY?
One of Christian's largely unstated themes is that the world has not been winning
against poverty - neither on the secular level, nor through the Church. While many
inroads have been made, nevertheless there has been widespread regression as a
whole. The rich have grown richer, and the poor have grown poorer and more in
number. Despite all the good that can be reported, it is a dismal picture.
Christian describes "increasing numbers below the poverty line". He quotes the
president of the World Bank: "We are making progress, but it is not fast enough.". He
states, "It appears the playing ground is tilted against the poor." He describes how
liberation theology in particular originated for the reason that "past attempts to deal with
poverty were considered totally inadequate".
He further outlines how strategies which were thought to look promising proved to be
self-defeating. For instance: "Benefits of economic growth, poverty alleviation
programmes, the green revolution, and so forth all tend to gravitate toward the few
rich.". The poor have merely transmuted into new elites, or the tranformed poor have
not been reintegrated into society as a whole.
Christian casts his net wide in describing ways in which humanity - both secular society
and Christ's Church - has sought to remedy the problem of poverty. One wonders
whether any options remain to be considered.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM, REALLY?
The problem of poverty has been variously defined. Christian takes the approach that
each of the major "poverty assumptions" may be more or less helpful. All of these, in his
view, contribute in some way to a "multi-variant analysis of poverty". He is opposed to
any "single-variable analysis of poverty", each of which has proved to be inadequate on
its own.
From the secular point of view, there have been various historical assumptions,
including the following:
* The poor lack resources, which should therefore be opened up to them.
* The poor may be defined as those who fall below a so-called "poverty line", at which
point social benefits should kick in.
* The poor are backward in their social and economic practices, and need to be uplifted.
* Structural inadequacies skew the distribution of wealth, and these need to be

corrected. Or
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* The poor are burdened with too many dependents, which requires social intervention.
From the Christian perspective, Christian outlines a few major historical assumptions,
including the following:
* The poor need personal conversion as the prerequisite for social, economic, and
political transformation.
* The poor need education and reform, to which the Church has a Christian obligation.
* The poor lack modernisation, which may be provided through Church-based

development projects.
* The poor are the victims of flawed public policy, which calls for prophetic challenge
from the Church. Or
* The love of Christ is simply an irreducible motivation that drives Christians to serve the
poor.
Throughout the book, each of these approaches, and more, is carefully shown to have
been helpful, yet inadequate in isolation. Throughout the book, also, Christian builds the
argument that poverty essentially has to do with power - the "power that keeps the poor
powerless". However, he does not adopt any of the major theories of "power creation" -
rather he has something else in store.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO POVERTY?
History itself, writes Christian, "has no power to redeem". Nor is it the case that God
"passively takes the side of the poor". Rather he suggests a "redemptive bias" for the
poor on the part of the Church.
Whether he would see himself as presenting a solution to poverty is unclear. However,

he clearly seeks to offer an approach which would succeed in integrating "the
relationship of evangelism to social action", and would promise a powerful answer to
poverty situations.
Christian maintains that poverty is about inequality, "specifically about inequality in

power relationships". The non-poor systematically exclude the poor from access to
education, wealth, and benefits from the system, and "seek to play god in the lives of
the poor", to form what he refers to as "god-complexes". However, these complexes are
not merely "inner spiritualities" as proposed by Walter Wink. "Principalities and powers

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are considered personal beings that have dominating influence on persons, social
organizations and groups, and structures".
In fact it is through his focus on principalities and powers as "personal beings" that
Christian seeks to integrate evangelism and social action. The mission of the Church is
to confront principalities and powers in all their multifarious activities, whether it be to
blind the minds of those who do not believe, or to oppress those who are in poverty.
However, Christian is mindful of the fact that we are only human, and that these are
principalities and powers. This means "humble acceptance of our natural
powerlessness" and "dependence on God". That is, we are all empty-handed. "Only
through genuine recognition of powerlessness can we discover kingdom power." Above
all, this "requires prayer and fasting" as preparatory exercises for "confrontation with the
devil and his forces". Transformation itself is "the result of the Spirit's anointing", and
empowerment "is in the final analysis the work of the Holy Spirit".
In a final chapter, Christian fleshes out a "Kingdom-based response to the

powerlessness of the poor". But alas, this chapter represents a mere 14 pages of a
book 238 pages long - a brief sketch of what might have been. This is surely the
greatest single shortcoming of the book.
Further, Christian dedicates just four lines to the title: "Powerlessness Is the Experience
of Real Persons". In reality, the poor are frequently pushed beyond their emotional and
spiritual ability to cope. What does the book have to offer such persons? I found little to
address this.
CONCLUSION.
"Prayer and fasting"? This might leave some practitioners aghast. However, in
Christian's scheme of things, this is merely a prelude to serious action, and it is
thoroughly motivated.
I see the presuppositions of the book applying to far more than poverty situations. All
too many ministers have become bogged down in ministry by approaching principalities
and powers in their midst, to use the words of Christian, under "the influence of
Enlightenment thinking", to the exclusion of "important dimensions of reality". Christian
considers that, in this way, missionaries in the past "became agents of secularization
despite all their good intentions." We would do well to note, he writes, that many
situations which Christians confront today are not merely "rooted in the Fall of humans",
but are "a result of the present working of the Evil One", and need to be dealt with as
such.
This book deserves attention, at the very least to gain an insight into major poverty
assumptions and historical responses to the poor. Particularly useful and insightful is
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Christian's treatment of evangelical Christianity as he traces major developments over

the past 40 years. For any Christian wishing to understand the "big picture" with regard
to global poverty, this is the book. It is a tour de force.
CITATION OF REFERENCES
Christian, Jayakumar. God Of The Empty-Handed. Monrovia, California: MARC (World

Vision), 1999. ISBN 1-887983-13-9. Publisher Price: US$21.95.
Rev. Thomas Scarborough is the minister of an Evangelical Congregational Church in

Cape Town, South Africa. During the course of a Master's degree through Fuller
Theological Seminary, he needs to read and reflect on some 100 books - hence this
review!
Imagining a New Future in the Midst of Poverty

Jayakumar Christian
KALI, A YOUNG GIRL from India, was nominated recently to participate in a World
Vision conference on the girl child, to be held in Canada. It was a big occasion for Kali.
Her family and her community were excited. We had gone through all the requirements
to get the community's approval. Next, we had to apply for a passport for her. This was
by no means an easy exercise because she was from a community of commercial sex
workers.
First, we needed her father's name, an address, a ration card or some authentic
document to prove that Kali was eligible for a passport. At every step we had to prove to
the system that Kali was a person-a "real person." Her past, her family and her identity
were of no help. The pressure to prove her credibility (as a person who "counts," for the
system) was almost too much to handle.
Kali's story is symbolic of the predicament of many girls in poverty situations. Today's
girl child needs to constantly prove her personhood to the system, the structures and
the powerful people who govern them.
To understand the poverty situation, we need to go beyond numbers and statistics that
shroud the reality of poverty. Most theories on poverty reduce the experiences of the
poor to a mere static concept, where numbers can then be manipulated for short-term
political advantages. Chronic poverty is essentially a human phenomenon where people
with feelings bleed and relationships hurt.
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Intergenerational poverty, among other things, is a product of an historical process that

is deliberately distorted by a few who play God in the life of the poor. Today's poverty is
a product of yesterday's history that impacts tomorrow's future.
Poverty is a time-related concept. It is impossible to understand the condition of the girl

child without raising the question of time. Their perception of future, characterised by a
deep-seated hopelessness, is a crucial variable that demands our attention.
This arti-cle seeks to examine the time and per-son dimensions of poverty situa-tions in
gener-al, and the girl child issues in particular. It also seeks to raise ques-tions that may
help develop our responses to issues involved in poverty situations.
Let us begin with the future.
The future and hopelessness
Hope and hopelessness are very often thought of as belonging to the realm of the
future. However, human experience suggests that hope and hopelessness are more
than a state of mind or a thing of the future. They shape the powerlessness of the girl
child today.
Hopelessness prevents meaningful action in the present. It results in disinterested

action, a lack of desire for change, and low aspirations. Hopelessness pushes girls and
women in poverty situations into extreme powerlessness. Therefore, hopelessness is
more than a thing of the future; it shapes the present and perpetuates the
powerlessness.
Second, powerlessness is vicious. Powerlessness destroys hope. Powerlessness and

hopelessness reinforce each other to hold the poor in permanent captivity within a
vicious cycle of deprivation. Further, the powerful would do anything to crush any
glimmer of hope among the poor. Hope among the poor is a threat to the powerful.
Hopelessness causes powerlessness, and powerlessness destroys hope. Powerless
girls and vulnerable women lose even the inner energy to hope.
This lack of hope for the future is rooted in the history and identity of a people. The
future of the poor is shaped in a laboratory called "history," and is an extension of the
identity of the poor.
Hopelessness-a product of history
The importance of history is a major variable in understanding that poverty is not new.
There are several ways in which the different forces within the history of a people
impact the present. In this section, I focus on interpreted-remembered and shared
aspects of history at the micro-level that shape poverty relationships.
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First, in poverty studies, the focus must be both on the macro-realities as well as the
micro-realities. However, in the past, the focus has been very much on the macro-level
historical process, with very little attention given to the micro-level historical process. In
this article, I have kept my focus on: a) The micro-level. By focusing on the micro-level, I
keep the focus at the grassroots level. b) The interpretations of history, rather than the
objective aspects of history. At the micro-level, the important thing is not on history as
foolproof, objective evidence, but on particular interpretations of history. Therefore, this
study understands history as interpreted and looks at its impact on the present and the
future. c) The remembered aspects of history that are crucial. The remembered aspects
of interpreted history shape the day-to-day life of the poor. They are stored in the
collective memory of the community. d) History in the form available as community
property. History is a community process. The community shares this remembered
history.
Therefore, this article focuses on the interpreted-remembered and shared aspects of

history at the micro level that have shaped poverty relationships.
Distortion of history
History is distorted in many ways. Let me highlight a few ways in which history is
distorted as they relate to the powerlessness of the poor.
First, the substance of remembered and interpreted history also tends to marginalise
the poor, the girl child and women. The powerful set the agenda for poverty
relationships. Marvin Olsen in Forms and Levels of Power calls this form of power that
sets the agenda as the "meta power." Meta power is the ability to "...shape the
aggregate action and interaction possibilities of those involved in the situation."
The powerful shape the rules for relationships and define the wants of the poor. They
ascribe meaning to life situations, which then shapes poverty
relationships. Those who look to the landlord or the village leader to name their
newborn baby are submitting to the definition ascribed to them by the powerful. Often,
the powerful choose names that reflect a low image of the poor. Children are named on
the basis of the color of their skin or the perceived mental ability of their caste. The
children then carry these scars throughout their history, scars that become the
substance of remembered history, consequently perpetuating powerlessness among
the poor.
Second, the process of history making becomes a source of powerlessness. It is

commonly said that all humans are free to make history. However, in reality, some
humans are indeed much freer than others to make history. In the bargain, those who
"...do not make history ... tend increasingly to become the utensils of history-makers, as
well as mere objects of history," according to C. Wright Mills in his 1993 article, "The
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Structure of Power in American Society," published in Power in Modern Societies. In

this major venture of the powerful to constantly write and rewrite history, the
powerlessness and the poor become mere objects. Thus, the history-making process
becomes a source of powerlessness for the poor.
Third, the opportunity to independently read the world is also curtailed for the poor.
Paulo Freire, who, in 1993, published Pedagogy of the City, defining literacy as the
"reading of the world," concludes that much of the education system does not enable
the poor to read their own world. The poor read the world through the lens that the
powerful have lent them. Freire, in his famous conscientisation (conscientisacao)
strategy for liberation from oppression, advocates that "...each man [must] win back his
right to say his own word, to name the world." Years of intergenerational poverty
seriously cramp the ability of the poor to even 11 name" their reality. It is a distorted
reading of reality and history. It is a history that the powerful write in an effort to create
"god complexes" that could hold the poor captive.
Finally, it must also be mentioned that not all remembered history is distorted. There are
some near-accurate readings of history that are remembered by the poor. Furthermore,
the powerful do not create all the distortions; the poor also play an active role in
distorting their own history. However, the socioeconomic cost of the distortions that the
powerful create is high for the poor.
Hopelessness and marred identity of the poor
Poverty is more than a simple issue of dignity. It is an issue of identity as well. By

marring the identity of the poor, the powerful inflict considerable damage upon the poor.
There are several ways in which this occurs, particularly among girls and women.
First, flawed social norms and the worldview of the people are used to mar the identity
of the poor. In the Indian context, the caste system is the mold used for shaping social
norms. In the various cultures of the world, religion and traditions have served as major
tools for reinforcing these norms.
For example, a community's jathi sampradaya (the caste tradition), accompanied by

fear and shame, perpetuates intergenerational temple prostitution in Kolar (Karnataka,
India).
Journalist Saritha Rai, narrating the story of a community of prostitutes in the Kolar
area, points out that the caste tradition has been used to maintain this institution of
prostitution in this village for generations. The caste tradition requires that poor families
dedicate at least one girl to the trade of prostitution. Fear and shame accompany these
traditions. Consequently, the traditions and the fear of shame have, for generations,
shaped the identity of this community.
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When traditions, fear of shame, and marred identity combine, powerlessness is the
product. The girl child has no option but to submit.
Second, years of marginalisation mar the identity of the poor. The fact that the girls are
born with a distinct social disadvantage leaves a negative imprint on their minds. This is
something that goes beyond simply stunting their aspirations or awareness. The ability
of the poor to critically reflect and analyse their situation has also been retarded. Years
of exploitation have reduced the marginalised girl child and the woman into dull,
submissing living objects. Their perpetual exploitation freezes their minds. John Sewell
(then president of the Overseas Development Council), in his survey of the challenge of
global poverty, points out that the physical and mental capacity of much of the future
labour force has suffered in at least eight countries in Latin America, 16 in sub-Saharan
Africa, three in North Africa and the Middle East, and four in South and East Asia.
Consequently, self-image and identity are shaped by the hurt and pain that the poor
carry in their minds. The dullness of the mind, along with the hurt and the pain, serves
to perpetuate powerlessness among the poor.
Third, in their unrestrained eagerness to possess, oppressors develop the conviction

that it is possible for them to transform everything into objects for purchase. What
matters most to oppressors is having more-always more even at the expense of the
oppressed. Having more, they believe, reflects their high status in society. The poor
become less than human in the process, and their identity is defined by the object
status that is assigned to them.
Fourth, the marring of the identity of the poor becomes a prelude to further exploitation.
Once the oppressor ascribes a low identity to the poor, all subsequent acts become
legitimate behaviour. The girl child will have to become the "unwanted" before she is
exploited by the oppressor. The wives of the landless will have to become "property"
before the landlord can abuse them sexually. The landless have to become "debtors"
before being abused and humiliated by the moneylender.
Through oppressive social norms of the community, stunting of the mind, retarding the
reflective ability of the poor, and reducing the poor into mere objects, society mars the
identity of the poor.
Hopelessness is today's experience
Marred identity, distorted interpretations of history, and hopelessness, combine to

produce today's poverty and powerlessness. Hopelessness, therefore, is more than a
state of mind. It is a flesh-and-blood experience of the poor today. Distorted history and
marred identity perpetuate powerlessness, and powerlessness in turn perpetuates
hopelessness. Kali is powerless and physically weak today. Her history is against her.
Her future becomes a mere extension of her distorted history and marred identity. Every

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time Kali had to prove her personhood to the system, the scars of her distorted history
and her marred identity, along with deep-seated hopelessness, worked against her.
Toward enhancing hope
If poverty and the condition of the girl child today are products of hopelessness
produced by distorted histories and marred identity, how should we then respond to the
girl child issues 9
The alternative we as followers of Jesus Christ bring to this challenge of poverty and
marginalisation of the girl child within poverty situations must be based on the kingdom
of God. There is no other option for us in dealing with issues of hope, history and
identity.
The kingdom of God that we seek to bear witness to is not a faceless concept. It has a
face and name: Jesus Christ. Taking our cue then from the person Jesus and the
kingdom of God, let us explore some options before us, the people of God.
1. If hope and hopelessness are related to the history of a people, it is imperative that
we reread distorted history with God as the point of reference. We begin our response
with the history of the poor and the marginalised among them. The kingdom of God
suggests that history needs to be reread with God as the point of reference. The
kingdom of God provides an alternative perspective to reread the history of the poor and
the marginalised.
2. This rereading of history must affirm, among other things, that God takes an active
interest in the history of the poor. The world tells the poor that God has forsaken them
and is not involved in their history. The kingdom of God suggests that God is involved in
the history of the poor. This is a very liberating alternative.
This rereading of history is more than rewriting from the perspective of the poor. The
kingdom of God affirms that history must be viewed from God's perspective, not from
that of either the victor or the vanquished. Neither of those are valid starting points.
History written from the perspective of the powerless will only mean a reversal of the
format, rather than a transformation of history.
3. Viewing history from God's perspective opens up the possibility of the powerless
imagining their future anew. The future need not be a mere extension of their distorted
version of history anymore. A new future need not be out of bounds for the poor. The
marginalised, who are constantly denied this history-making role and are tools in the
hands of the history-makers of the world, have a new opportunity to imagine a future
characterised by hope.

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4. If hope is to be enhanced, marred identity needs clarification and healing. The identity
of girls and women must be affirmed and their self concept clarified with the message
that they are made in the image of God. They then can be empowered to imagine a new
future.
5. This imagining of a new future (by a people whose histories have been reread and
self-concepts clarified) is a ministry of "prophetic imagination," according to theologian
Walter Brueggemann. This prophetic imagination must precede any concrete response.
6. The imagining of a new future suggests we read the past and present with God's
intended future as the primary point of reference. The world's power compels us to
make decisions based on a snapshot reading of events and issues. The world would
like to put forth an image of truth based on a snapshot of present events. However,
acknowledging a God who is active in history also affirms that God's action leads history
to fulfill God's purposes. Therefore, the poor need not react to their current status on the
basis of a snapshot reading of events and experiences. Holding a long view is crucial
for the poor. As development specialist Robert Chambers rightly suggests, the solution
to the powerlessness of the poor "...is empowering the poor in a manner which
encourages and enables them to take the long view, to enhance and not degrade
resources…"
7. In this task of imagining a new future, the prophet of God provides the leadership. "It
is the vocation of the prophet," suggests Brueggemann, "to keep alive the ministry of
imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the
king (referring to the kingdoms if Israel, particularly King Solomon's time) wants to urge
as the only thinkable one."
If intergenerational poverty is a product of history and identity, the challenge before us is

to move beyond the here-and-now of poverty and deal with time dimensions of poverty
situations and identities of the poor. Sustaining life among the poor, whose hope is
constantly squelched by the world around them, whose identities are marred, and
whose histories are written by the powerful, demands a radical response-a response
shaped by the kingdom of God. A response that not only transforms the Kalis of the
world, but the worlds of Kali. El (source:NSM KnowledgeBase )

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Theirs is the Kingdom

Editor’s note: On January 1, 2004, Jayakumar Christian will become the leader of World Vision’s 1600-person staff in India.He holds
a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and authored the book, "God Of The Empty Handed." Charlotte World Publisher Warren
Smith recently traveled to India as World Vision’s guest to see that group’s work related to AIDS and poverty. While there, he met
with Dr. Christian. Below are excerpts from that conversation.
Warren Smith: One of the issues you write about is the issue of defining who is actually
poor. There are various definitions of what constitutes poverty, and those various
definitions have political and policy implications. Is someone who is poor someone who
doesn‘t have food, or someone who doesn‘t have Internet access?
Jayakumar Christian: The real variable is power. Therefore, I‘m talking about the
powerless. I chose power because it is in some sense the lowest common denominator.
Whether you are talking about economics, politics, religion, culture, whatever.
Powerlessness makes you vulnerable to oppression. So I have argued that without an
understanding of power and powerlessness, you cannot understand poverty. Any
mission to the poor must engage the question of power. The Bible is a book about
power.
WS: Jesus said that the poor will always be with us, and he also said that when you
give a cup of water to the least of these, you do it for Me. Help me understand the
relationship between working on behalf of the poor, the powerless, as a Great
Commission activity.
JC: The way I understand the mission mandate to the poor is that we cannot establish
the fullness of the kingdom of God if we do not address issues of injustice and
oppression. So if I am about establishing the kingdom of God then I must address
injustice and oppression. So in that sense, the old mission paradigm, that the poor are
one of the many audiences for the Gospel message, I don‘t buy into that. The Church
must be anAgent for the kingdom, it must engage issues of oppression and injustice as
fundamental to its mission, not just a part of its mission
WS: Among those who are powerless in India, you‘ve particularly mentioned women.
And that idea has become a focus of World Vision‘s HIV/AIDS work. Empowering
women and advocating for women. What does that look like in action?
JC: First, the side of the powerless – whether those be children, women, or others –
should be the side the Church chooses to be on. We take the side of the powerless. I
would call that the redemptive bias of the Church. When we take the side of the
powerless, it is not merely a strategy but a message. We are saying that you can be on
the cross one day and turn the world upside down the next. That‘s part of the Christian
message. So we take the side of the powerless in whatever part of the world we‘re in.

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When it comes to poverty, when it comes to HIV/AIDS, when it comes to oppression,

that is best symbolized by children and women.
WS: In the United States, many people – even conservatives and evangelicals – hold
up Uganda‘s ABC program [abstinence, be faithful, condom] as a model for dealing with
HIV/AIDS. Christians like to say ―A-B-Little C.‖ World Vision is involved in condom
distribution here in India. Can you say more about why that is so?
JC: Officially, World Vision‘s policy is that condoms are not our first response. That we
very clearly state. But if a husband has HIV/AIDS and the wife does not, should we
sentence the woman to death by saying this couple can‘t use a condom?
WS: You‘ve said that one of the things that the Church can do that a government or
NGO can‘t is to embrace the poor and the powerless. What do you mean when you say
that? What does that look like?
JC: We embrace the poor and the hurting by our ways of doing things. The ability to
listen, and specifically to listen to the poor. That‘s God‘s logic, by putting two ears and
one mouth on us. That in itself will do a lot of miracles. To go the extra mile and be
present when people are hurting. For example, we celebrate the birthdays of [HIV]
positive people, fully knowing that we may not be able to celebrate the next birthday.
But we are here celebrating this birthday. We have a practice that is very interesting.
Every time an AIDS child dies, we bring all the children together and sing praises to
God and explain what this means. We face death together. When the children celebrate
the life of that child it tells the children that we will also celebrate their lives. This can be
hard, painful. But, one of the occupational hazards of working with World Vision is that
over time you can become numb to this sort of pain. I‘m hoping that I never fail to feel
that pain. I hope I never become a nice, balanced Christian who loses passion, or the
ability to feel either joy or pain.
WS: What message would you want the American Church to hear from your work here
in India?
JC: That there is no church in any part of the world without addressing issues of poverty
and injustice. The American Church must rediscover this. There are enough pressures
in the Church to become nice, friendly, accessible. But you cannot be involved in
kingdom-building if you do not have a heart for the powerless. I‘m not saying that
everyone should drop everything and move to India or some other country. But all
churches must find their role in this kingdom-building work, whether that be in giving, or
advocacy, in some other activity, in its own way, in its own world, according to the
calling of God.
(source: Seek Justice: Global AIDS Crisis )

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Serving the Poor While Walking with Them

( open source theology )
19 December, 2005 - 19:38.
EsmÃ©e Chengapen
In the book of Isaiah, when the prophet is announcing the coming of the Messiah, one
finds that the poor is very much in the priority list of Jesus. Isaiah 11:3-4 says:
He will not judge what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth
And when we fast, what God demands of us (he does not just suggest it) to share our
food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter and when we see
the naked, to clothe them…. (Isaiah 58:7)
It seems straightforward because of the injustice around us about who should be a

major target group of the communities of faith, but also Christ‘s message goes beyond
simply feeding the poor, it is a liberating message as described in Isaiah 58, true fasting
is also to loose chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, set the oppressed
free and break every yoke.
I would think that it is important first to articulate our view of poverty because this will
strongly influence how we should go about it and change our lifestyles accordingly.
Is poverty merely a deficit?
If we view poor people as not having enough to eat, a place to sleep, the unspoken
assumption is to provide the missing things and the poor will no longer be poor. If they
do not have the relevant skills or knowledge, then providing education and if the poor
simply learns enough, they will no longer be poor. We, as followers of Christ, then add
the knowledge of the gospel to our programme for the poor.
This has been the traditional approach of the church, however it creates a ―Santa Claus‖
picture of the communities of faith and the poor become passive recipients of the
church‘s generosity. This approach has two negative consequences: it demeans the
poor and it temps us to play god in the lives of the poor.
I experienced this kind of approach while growing up in Mauritius. I must add that I am
eternally grateful to the missionaries especially the Irish Catholic nuns who came to the
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island before its independence from the British. From my great-grandfather to my

grandfather to my Dad and his siblings, and to my cousins and I, we all went to
missionary schools. In many ways, Mauritius could make it to independence in 1968
because it had an educated workforce and for this, the country owes a great deal to the
missionaries who did a great job on the island. However, as of today, most of the
island‘s population respects Christianity but they are still very captive in superstitious
beliefs. As a child, I always thought that the missionaries were superior given that they
had the resources, the education and the connections (these are very important on an
island!). Indeed, they played god in my life.
Poverty as disempowerment
In ―Walking with Poor‖, the author shares the thesis of Jayakumar Christian who is a
World Vision development worker.[1] His study is based on his work in transformational
development in India.[2] Christian describes the poor household embedded in a
complex framework of interacting systems which includes:
a personal system including psychology;

a social system; and
a spiritual/religious system (both personal and social).
Each part of the system creates its own particular contribution to the disempowerment
of the poor including captivity to god complexes of the non-poor, deception by
―principalities and powers‖, inadequacies in worldview and suffering from a marred
identity.
Captivity to god-complexes of the non-poor- the socio-economic-political system
This is something one would not naturally think of when one has access to the rights
and privileges of a middle class European. The poor is subject to another reality: to the
whims of a landlord, to radical decisions of governments if he is refugee, to the drug
trafficker is he is pawn and victim of the drug trade. Jayakumar Christian reminds us
that these powers exist within a cosmic system in which principalities and powers work
out their rebellion against God and God‘s intention for human life in creation.
Communities of faith working with the poor should be mindful of this aspect of captivity
of the poor. Working for the transformation of the lives of the poor can be compared to
getting Egypt out of the children of Israel after they were liberated from the powers of
the pharaoh. Indeed, it was a matter of days for God to get the children of Israel out of
Egypt but forty years in the wilderness to get Egypt out of them!
While we must always encourage the poor to respect the law of the land, we must
educate them about the freedom one has as a citizen of a country (one should have a
closer look at his entitlements if he has refugee status) and also the freedom one has in
24 | P a g e
Christ.
This is something that I personally struggle with when I am working with refugees. It is
very hard for them as they are unable to work for many years under refugee status, the
man is usually so robbed of his dignity because he cannot provide for his family, and on
top of that, being a refugee equates being despised by many locals.
I can illustrate this point with what happened once to one of my refugee friends. Naibkhil
is the father of an Afghan boy named Hassib whom I was helping a couple of years ago,
the rest of the family was still in Afghanistan at the time. As he did not have much to do
after his son left for school, he used to go for a long walk around the refugee centre
daily. Once he met a Dutch lady walking her dog and he said a friendly hello to her. The
woman proceeded to tell him that he had no human dignity for coming to Holland as a
refugee (in the area they knew who were the locals and who were the refugees) and
she then said that her dog had a better attitude to the rest of humankind than he had
and she would not speak to people of his level! This really hit my friend and as he was
telling me about this upsetting encounter, he had tears in his eyes. I felt so helpless in
what I could say to him as I felt that he had lost so much of his dignity.
So how can we go about helping the poor in the socio-economic-political area?
Deception by principalities and powers – the spiritual system
―We were in slavery under the basic principles of this world‖ - Galatians 4:3
The powerless of the poor is reinforced by fear and deceit created by the god of this age
that blinded the minds of believers (2 Corinthians 4:4).
I can so relate to these verses growing up in Mauritius. Superstition held my family so

captive and although we were not poor in Mauritian terms, we lived under the lies of the
enemy. It seemed that my family had such a bad karma, that the endless fasting and
sacrifices to the Hindu gods would not change anything! When I visit the poor in
Mauritius or the refugees in Amsterdam, I can see how the same kinds of superstitions
haunt them. They struggle to succeed as at the back of their minds, they have been
born under the wrong sign or at the wrong time, or they are not getting their permanent
resident status because another family in the camp is envious of them and creating bad
vibes in their direction.
Dealing with this kind of spiritual deception requires prayer and fasting and also
knowing God‘s word, I can say this by reason of my own journey from Hinduism to
Christianity.
The marred identity of the poor

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Jayakumar Christian observes in his thesis that the poor is marred in two important
ways:
Firstly, they are excluded as actors in society and too often, the voice of the poor is
regarded as ―damaged goods‖. The leaders of the country do not expect the poor to
have anything to offer since they have been labelled as lazy, ignorant or unworthy,
Secondly, a lifetime of suffering, deception and exclusion is internalised by the poor in a

way that results in the poor no longer knowing who they truly are or why they were
created. This is the deepest and most profound expression of poverty. The poor come
to believe that they are and were always meant to be without value and without gifts.
The identity of the poor is distorted and is kept by a web of lies that entraps the poor in
ways far stronger and deceitful than physical bonds or limitations.
To address this aspect of poverty, the communities of faith need to become instruments
of God to restore the identity of the poor. Being their friend, helping them to deal with
their internal struggles, walking with them as a friend and showing them God‘s truth. It
requires a much closer approach to working with the poor than what we are currently
doing.
Should missional communities aggressively change their lifestyles, attitudes and

teaching to reach out to the poor and marginalized in Europe?
I wish I did not have to deal with this question as this is that has been on my mind for
quite a while concerning my own life. I would think that most of us have gone through
some downward mobility when moving to Europe and leaving the comforts of home.
Part of me wishes that there would be no more downward mobility!
Yet, we live in a bubble and very often, this bubble is called an expatriate middle-class
world. We then tend to concentrate on our own middle-class problems and do not have
the time and energy to reach out to the poor.
These are the questions I struggle with:
Should I live in a poorer area so that I am physically closer to the poor?

How much of my income should go to the poor?
How much of my church‘s income should go towards serving the poor?
How welcoming am I to the poor in my home?
Footnotes
[1] Myers, Bryant L. 1999, Walking with the Poor, World Vision International, Maryknoll,
NY: Orbis Books
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[2] Christian, Jayakumar. 1998a. ―A Different Way to Look at Poverty‖, Body and Soul,
London: World Vision UK
Powering Down
World Vision India head Jayakumar Christian on how the poor become movers and shakers, and movers
and shakers become poor.
Interview by Andy Crouch
Nine years ago, World Vision staff discovered pervasive bonded child labor in the district of
Gudiyatham in India: parents indenturing their children to moneylenders, in payment of debts as
small as $20. The children rolled cigarettes, tanned hides, or made matches without freedom to
go to school—and with little prospect of ever repaying loans made at ruinous interest rates.
Today, according to World Vision's extensive house-to-house surveys, child labor in the
Gudiyatham district has been reduced by more than 80 percent. Children out of school can be
counted in the dozens, rather than the hundreds.
Jayakumar Christian oversees this and other projects that serve the poor. One would think that
all Indians would welcome such efforts. Not quite. One of Christian's jobs is to encourage the 12
World Vision staff members based in Gudiyatham, who, like many of their colleagues, have
faced increasing opposition. World Vision India has developed a citizenship-training program,
and a few weeks before this interview, local fundamentalists had orchestrated a police raid on
one of the training sessions, threatening force and seizing the training materials—all with
cameras rolling from local media who had been tipped off to the raid in advance.
Such harassment is typical of what Christians in India increasingly endure, even when, as with
World Vision, the programs they offer are carefully designed to strengthen India's pluralistic
democracy rather than to proselytize. The staff endured a tense negotiation with police before
local officials concluded that there was nothing objectionable in World Vision's materials. But
Christian was still distressed. "I was asking God, how long can we take this? The
fundamentalists just walk away having done the damage. It's hard."
Christian took me to visit this project, and when we arrived, the staff was upbeat about the
recent harassment. "It has actually worked to our advantage," the project director told Christian.
"The community is now behind us. When we first came here, many of the villagers were very
suspicious of us. But during this incident, they rallied to us. We have more support than ever
now."
Indeed, from the warm welcomes that awaited Christian in Gudiyatham, you would never know
that World Vision faces opposition. Nearly 20 women leaders of self-help groups presented him
with a fragrant garland of flowers. A dozen schoolchildren ages 10 to 15, released from school
for lunch, told him their stories of being sold to moneylenders and then released from
bondage—and several told him about neighboring children they are now working to release. At
one village, nearly the entire population crowded under a tent to tell animated stories of how
their lives had changed since they committed to educating their children rather than sending
them to work. The president of one panchayat, or local council, greeted Christian warmly.
27 | P a g e
Everyone we met displayed confidence and delight in the changes in their villages. It was hard
to imagine that these families were recently selling their children into servitude. To an outsider,
they did not seem poor. As the day went on, it became clear that they no longer seemed poor to
themselves, either.
The next day, I sat down with Christian to discuss the mission principles behind this
extraordinary transformation. We were back in World Vision's national office in Chennai, but it
was clear that Christian's mind was very much on the people he had met the day before in
Gudiyatham district.
What was most significant to you about your visit to Gudiyatham?
This community has lived with child labor for generations. It was the norm. Yet we saw a
community for whom that same, age-old practice is now seen as a violation of their rights. That
is a huge transformation. And it happened in less than ten years.
The credit for that certainly doesn't go entirely to World Vision and other NGOs. The
government plays an important role by giving us legal backing, even if the implementation is
inconsistent at times. But what I heard yesterday was not mostly about the government or World
Vision—they used the word we. "We released seven children from bonded labor last month."
Not "World Vision released." Not "the government." We released them. That word we
represents a huge success story.
And they have begun to be committed to education—not just for boys, but also for girls. That's a
rare thing, for a community that until very recently was struggling with bonded labor to say girls
and boys both deserve education and opportunity.
That must be related to the women's involvement in self-help groups.
The women we spoke with very clearly communicated this: "We used to be afraid to walk into a
bank. Now we can walk into any office—the collector's office, the police station, the bank. Now
no one can stop us!" So the linkages are there with the government, and they can be sustained.
Good development is about creating sustainable linkages. We have that in place. Now it is
nearly time for World Vision to withdraw from this area.
They are all so confident and enthusiastic. That sense of hope is such a contrast from the last
time I visited, many years ago. The situation has been turned around, and truly by God's grace,
I think. And did you notice that they were thanking God for their liberation from bondage? It was
not simply because of some good strategy or some good program. God's role in their lives was
very evident. I was really grateful to God that they saw God's hand in it.
This is not a model of development where God is absent, but one where God is involved. It is
not making a hero out of men or women. They were still God-dependent. For an Indian, that is
natural. You don't need to introduce God to an Indian community. They will naturally speak
about God.
But was seeing God in their liberation a theological shift for these Hindus?
I don't think it's a theological shift for the average Hindu Indian. For Indians, God is more
involved in day-to-day life than most Western Christians' theology would allow. The average
Hindu need not be introduced to God in that sense. They need to be introduced to the name of
that God—Jesus. I've said many times that we do not need to break our heads in India
28 | P a g e
convincing any Indian about the existence of God. The challenge is, "What is the name of this
God who is involved with the poor?" That's where Christian distinctiveness—and divisiveness—
is felt. Our privilege in World Vision is being able to call attention to the name of God as Jesus
through our lives, relationships, and actions, not in a divisive manner, but in a distinctive
manner.
Is there suspicion that your development work is a subtext for proselytizing?
There is suspicion in certain quarters. But we insist that in World Vision India, we do not trade
our God for development. We do not trade our God to buy relationships. He is too precious for
us to be bargaining with, too precious to be bargained for. He is not for sale.
So proselytizing, conversion through coercive means, is a non-issue for us. Not just because we
respect the people we serve. That's one part of the story. But also because we value the God
we worship.
You respect freedom in both directions—not just the freedom of people, but the freedom
of God.
Really, how could we treat the gospel as something to be traded when we believe it should cost
our own lives? We don't manipulate people's vulnerability, people's pain. We demonstrate our
commitment to the gospel. Then it's up to people to ask the question about our lives.
Even that level of witness has provoked threats from Hindu fundamentalists.
Absolutely. But I was so encouraged by the attitude among my colleagues that God is in control.
One of them quoted . Everything has worked together for good, because out of the most recent
incident of fundamentalist opposition, there was a groundswell of support from people from all
quarters, which would not have happened if the Hindu fundamentalists had not disturbed the
pond in the first place. Our last governor general, when the British were leaving, said, "Leave
the Christians alone. If you leave them alone, they will naturally die out. If you disturb them, you
will have a problem." He was right: The more we get disturbed, the more we grow.
You seem to think about poverty less in terms of prosperity and more in terms of access.
The word we use is linkages. Poverty is the absence of linkages, the absence of connections
with others. So we look for opportunities to link powerless communities with people with good
intentions, people with good hearts—government officials, health officials, panchayat
presidents, headmasters in schools—who have an influence in the local area and who mean
good. We work closely with them.
We also work hard on our own linkages. Here in India, there are government officials in very
senior positions who are most willing to design programs that serve poor communities—if we
can link with them and help them understand the needs and opportunities there.
How do you understand the role of the powerful in developing poor communities?
We need to influence the powerful on behalf of the poor. That can include challenging the
powerful—raising uncomfortable questions, and frequently more than just questions. When the
poor are oppressed or children are raped or abused, we have taken a stand with the poor and
helped to put some of these powerful people behind bars.
But we also need to remember that the powerful have a place at the Cross. They cannot
become our enemies. I remind myself that I have the same elements of fallenness in me that
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they have. We who seek to be agents of transformation are in need of transformation as much
as the poor and the powerful.
The truth is that both the powerful and agents of transformation need to transform our
understanding of power. It is not enough to simply play the power game better or more humbly.
We need to come deeply to believe that our basis of power is not our professionalism or
connections or resources. Those are only tools to be used. The basis for our power is our
dependence on God. If we do not remember these fundamentals, it is so easy for us in World
Vision to play God in the lives of the poor.
What form does 'playing God' take in mission?
You have to understand that my assumption is that the poor are poor because someone else is
trying to play God in their lives. Human beings were designed to submit their spirit only to the
Creator. Any attempt to take the place of the Creator leads to poverty. I talked about this with
the community yesterday several times, and you could see heads nodding. Only God can direct
how I should live my life, when my child should go to work, what my child should be doing. But
others had taken that role of control in the lives of men, women, and children in that community.
In the very process of breaking the human tendency to play God, though, I can begin to play
God. Because I have similar power. I have the power to approve or not approve development
programs; I have the power of connections; I know people in high places. For the agent of
transformation to refuse to play God requires great strength of character.
So how does one use one's power without playing God?
We constantly remind ourselves that our organization is dependent on God. We might have
budgets, strategies, professionalism, and sophistication in organizational practices, but those do
not explain our effectiveness. Our effectiveness is explained by our dependence on God.
I remember talking to one of my colleagues just three weeks ago. An elderly Hindu lady in his
community came and handed a small wooden cross to him. She said, "I have figured out that
this is the secret of your success." She said she had kept another cross for herself. I thought to
myself, Who told her this? She must have observed his life. I was so grateful to God when I
heard that.
What are you learning or unlearning in your work?
One thing I think we are learning is that we are small players in the transformation we have
been able to see. We cannot attribute all of the changes we have seen to World Vision. The
NGO industry invests a lot in counting and measuring attribution. But our experience in the field
clearly tells us we are a small piece of the picture.
Explaining this to a cause-and-effect-oriented donor base is a huge challenge. "You can see
change, but did we do it, with your money? No." [He laughs.] Yes, we did one plus two, but the
results are sevenfold—we do not know how to communicate the mystery of development. How
did the attitude of the men in this village change toward the women in the village? How do we
explain the enthusiasm of a little girl named Jeevita, who just a year ago was making matches
every day, who is now encouraging other girls to come to school and stay in school? We can't
explain it without the hand of God.

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Inevitably, then, we are learning how much we need to be transformed ourselves. As much as
the poor are in need of transformation, World Vision is in need of real, desperate transformation:
in our understanding of power, our tendency to play God, our tendency to become the
spectacular "savior." We need to be continuously confronted with those brutal facts. It is the
transformed quality of our lives that will ultimately make the difference. Not our strategies, not
our money—we must constantly ask ourselves whether these tools get in the way of investing
our lives.
So my business as a team leader is to pray for my colleagues, to provide prayer cover, to spend
time with them, and to seek that gift of transformation. That is why my desk is clean: My work is
easy.
Cities, the poor and our response

Jayakumar Christian
Reproduced from Drishtikone: No, 1, 1996 Drishtikone 7 April- July 2004
A major shift among Evangelicals over the last few years has been the acceptance of
the city as a valid ―variable‖ in planning mission strategies. In this article I seek to raise some
fundamental issues for us to consider as we respond to the city, and the poor of the city. Before
I continue, let me place before you two assumptions that have guided my reflections. Firstly, the
focus of this article is on understanding poverty and not so much prescribing a response. Often
we rush into designing our response and proving our Christian distinctiveness before exegeting
the city and poverty situations. Consequently, our responses to the city and the poor have been
models of ―fragile wholism‖ that have left front-line staff, who entered the field of development in
response to ―God‘s call‖ to ministry, dissatisfied.
Secondly, this article seeks to help our front-line colleagues -those who work directly with the
poor. Conclusions about poverty and its details must be left to our front-line colleagues.
However, it is important that we facilitate the development of tools of analysis that will enable a
reading of the cause of poverty in a ―wholistic way‖ - a crucial prerequisite in designing a holistic
response to the city and the poor.
In the next few paragraphs, I would like to share my reflections on a few issues that I have been
struggling with as I interact with various field ministries. Let me first begin with the role of the city
in understanding poverty and our response to it.
The purpose of ministries among the cities’ poor is to transform the whole city and the
nation
Poverty of any particular jhuggi or slum is deeply connected with the way the city systems
function. We need to analyse the macro level, global systems and even cosmic level realities, to
understand the. poverty of a particular urban community. The powers that seek to keep the
urban poor, poor, frequent the corridors of our government offices, multinational companies,
political offices, religious centres and even academic institutions.
The poor of the city are captives in the ―god complexes‖ that these powers seek to construct1.
Poverty is also the result of lies in public life; lies that the media spread, the non-poor promote
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and the poor come to believe over time. Our analysis of poverty has unfortunately been too
micro oriented and therefore fragmented. Understanding the larger context of micro level urban
poverty raises crucial questions about our responses to the urban poor. It calls for a thorough
analysis of powers that reinforce each other to play ‗god‘ in the lives of the poor. It calls for an
analysis of the ―web of lies‖ perpetuated by the systems, structures, and the non-poor. This
would imply that an evangelical response establish truth in public life, challenge the lies that rule
the lives of the poor in the cities, and transform the whole city. Worshipping the God of the
nations in evangelical involvement in a jhuggi must result in transformation of the city and the
nation(s). Our identification with a God who is redemptively biased towards the poor is the only
legitimate platform (without reducing the poor to mere means) from which to transform this
warped upside down nation and city. Do we see the nations beyond the poor we serve, the ‗god
complexes‘ behind the details of poverty and the lies that stare at us even as we seek to serve
the poor? Are we conscious that we are co-workers with a God who calls us to initiate ripples of
transformation as we
stand among the poor of the nation?
Analysis of Poverty must Include an analysis of the world view of peoples involved.
Development and empowerment is more than economics, technology, or politics put together.
Development and empowerment is also related to our ―world view‖.2 World view is defined
simply as the way ―people view reality‖. The response of the poor and the non-poor to reality,
including their poverty, is based on their world view assumptions. 3
In India, religion plays a major role in shaping our world view. God related explanations are
often given to explain reality. The poor explain poverty in terms of the ‗gods‘ which the non-poor
reinforce with their exploitation. This is true in spite of urbanisation. Therefore, we need to
analyse the world view of the poor who experience poverty, and of those who perpetuate
poverty. It is important to trace the linkage between the socio-economic, political, bureaucratic,
and cultural dimensions of poverty and the world view of the people. This is an area often
neglected in our analysis of poverty. We fail to equip our front-line staff to analyse the world
view level causes of poverty, and to trace the impact of our response on the world view of the
poor and the nonpoor. This means we need to do more ―homework‖ prior to shaping our
response to the urban poor. This is where, I believe, we will start encountering the spiritual roots
of poverty. This is where we need to under gird our responses with a Christian understanding of
spirituality.
Understanding the Role of the Principalities and the Powers in Relation to Poverty in the
City
Mission anthropologist Paul Hiebert‘s analysis of the ―excluded middle‖4 triggered several re-
evaluations of the traditional understanding of the causes of poverty. We started examining the
role of the ‗small gods‘ more closely. Front-line colleagues are noticing how the urban, as well
as the rural and tribal poor, see sickness, failure in life, and broken relationships as the result of
spiritual powers mediated by demons, shamans, witch doctors and gods. These demons and
shamans work towards the destruction of God‘s creation and cause sickness, exploit curses,
break relationships and influence minds, decisions, habits and actions of all people. However,
when they attack the socio-economic poor, the cost incurred is extremely high. Consequently
the poor remain in the clutches of the non-poor, witch craft and debt. Unfortunately we have
been blind to the role of the principalities and powers in poverty situations because we have
used the ―urban rational‖ lens we acquired from our universities. Are we able to see the socio-
economic dimensions of the role of the ‗small gods‘ in the life of the poor? As long as our

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analysis of urban poverty, and our response ignores cosmic realities (I am not suggesting that
we blame the devil for all poverty) our impact will be shallow.
On the other hand, to respond to the principalities and powers we need to be adequately
equipped. Should not spiritual gifts become a valid part of development ―skills‖? Should not
fasting and prayer be used as tools for social action? Should not the whole armor of God be an
integral uniform for our colleagues? Should not our headquarters, national and zonal offices
provide prayer cover for our field staff in the battle field? Should we not measure the impact of
our work in the slums in terms of the communication of the message ―Jesus is Lord‖ to the
principalities and powers in the spiritual realm (Eph.3:10)? Should we not ensure that all our
responses, wherever appropriate, empower the poor to deal with these ‗small gods‘? Does not
this imply that our involvement among the urban poor is micro involvement, that transforms
macro (nations) and cosmic realities?
Do the Methods we use Bring About the Desired ―Christian‖ Impact?
Let me now shift the focus to those who work among the urban poor - our front line colleagues.
In our work with the poor we have often struggled with the question as to ―what is distinctively
Christian about our work?‖ Invariably we have pointed to our motivation as the key
―differentiator‖. I would like to suggest that we need to move further. Even our analysis of
poverty situations and our strategies must be distinctively Christian.
―Our analysis of poverty situations and our strategies must be distinctively Christian.‖
The methods and strategies we employ must also be ―Christian‖. We need to remember that the
message about God, humans and their relationship with God is being communicated through
the strategies, methods and techniques we employ. Evangelicals have for a long time, borrowed
lock, stock and barrel, successful methods and techniques from the world. ―It worked‖ seemed
to have been the only yardstick used to decide on strategies and methods. Consequently our
impact has been secular.5 If we consider our whole ministry as a means to communicate the
message of the Kingdom of God then it is critical that we examine the strategies and methods
as welt. Consequently, we need to equip our staff with tools and skills to critically evaluate
strategies and techniques currently in use. For example the urban community organisation
techniques generally organise people around issues. We play the numbers game. We
communicate the message that power lies in numbers and right connections. We reduce the
poor to mere numbers. We tell the poor that ―power belongs to the people‖ while we claim to
believe ―power belongs to God‖. Is there a way out of these embarrassing contradictions? Does
the Biblical teaching on covenant give us any clues to evaluate urban community organisation
strategies? Can we develop a covenant based community organisation technique that
communicates the Kingdom understanding of power, affirms the poor as made in the image of
God and values relationships and diversity?
Do we Provide for our Staff to be Healed and Transformed Even as they Seek to Heal and
Transform the Poor?
People are our major resource. However, we seldom pay attention to this. We are busy
empowering the poor and dehumanize our staff in the process. Project activities crowd the
person out and lives are rarely transformed. If our ministry is only a transfer of resources, then
the poor become beggars. If confine our ministry to mere programmes, then the poor become
mere beneficiaries. However, to trans-form lives we need to invest in lives. Therefore it is
important to focus on equipping our staff. Apart from the need to transform lives, poverty also
demands an encounter at the level of the identity of the person. Poverty is more than an issues
of dignity. It is an issue of distorted identity. The image of God in the poor is continuously being
distorted. To adequately respond to poverty we need to heal and clarify the identity of the poor
with the ―image of God‖ as our point of reference.

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Here again we are called to invest lives of people whose identity has been clarified at the Cross.
These reflections raise a key question for us to consider as we develop our response to the
poor and the city. We
need to ask constantly if our strategies, programmes, structures and resources‖ enable our field
staff to invest their lives among the poor, or are they a hindrance? In these paragraphs I have
attempted to share my reflections on a few issues that my colleagues and I struggle with
constantly. I have sought to reflect on issues of urban poverty that will impact our response to
the poor. I have done so from a commitment to develop a distinctively Christian response to the
poor. A response that will not merely consist of ―propaganda or even in stirring people up, but in
being a living mystery...to live (and respond to urban poverty) in such a way that one‘s life (and
response) would not make sense if God did not exist‖6
Notes:
1. See T.K.Oommon‘s description of power reservoirs and exercisers in his analysis of Indian Social Movements
(Protest and Change SAGE Publications, New Delhi 7990). Also read Walter Wink‘s chapter on Domination Systems
in his book Engaging the Powers (Fortress Press, Philadelphia, PA 1992). I have borrowed the term ―god complex‖
from Jurgen Moltmann used in ―Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the ‗ Glory (The Reformed Word 37(3,4):
1S82).
2. Read community psychologist Julian Rappaport‘s article Terms of Empowerment/ Exemplars of Prevention:
Towards a theory for Community Psychology‖ in American Journal of Community Psychology 1987:15(2): 121-148.
3. Bruce Bradshaw in a recent book Bridging the Gap: Evangelism, Development and Shalom (1994; MARC,
Monrovia, CA) inquires Into World View for clues on how to bridge the traditional divide between Evangelism and
Development
4. ―The Haw of the Excluded Middle‖ in Missiology:An International Review X{1): 1982. by Paul Hieberl.
5. See Leslie Newbigin in Honest Religion For Secular Man. Philadelphia, PA The Westminister Press (1966)
6. Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion by Robert Coles 1987:160. Parentheses are my addition
Bible Study
Study on Luke 10
A paradigm for mission - a Lukan Perspective
Mr. Jaya Kumar Christian
Reproduced from: Drishtikone No. 3, 1996
Drishtikone 66 April- July 2004
This chapter begins with Jesus sending his disciples for ‗outreach‘ and the disciples
returning for a ‗debriefing‘ session. Our reflection would begin in verse seventeen. In the
passage following verse 17, Luke brings together a set of narratives to outline for us a
possible ‗paradigm for missional involvement‘ - we will reflect on fivethemes from this
passage for constructing this paradigm.
1. (Vs 17-24) Mission must challenge principalities and powers
During the ‗debriefing‘ session, the disciples report the ‗demons submit‘(vs.17) Jesus
also concurs with them by saying that He saw ‗Satan fall‘, (vs 18) and ‗spirits submit‘ (vs
20). This challenging of the principalities and powers was obviously a sure reason for

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the disciples‘ joy (vs 21) and Jesus being ‗full of joy‘(vs 21). The disciples go out to heal
and declare the kingdom of
God is near (vs. 9) They come back to report about principalities and powers
submitting. Missional involvement must in variably challenge the principalities and
powers. These powers in spiritual places are a key audience for missional involvement
(Eph 3:10). Mission is about challenging principalities and powers.
2. (Vs. 25-29, 36) Mission must reverse the questions the world is asking about
reality
Following the reflections on the spirits submitting and Satan failing, Luke strings in the
next narrative about Jesus‘ encounter with the learned Jewish lawyer. The narrative
begins with the lawyer wanting to ‗test Jesus‘ (vs.25) and ‗justify himself (vs.29). The
lawyer‘s question ‗who is my neighbour?‘ (vs.29) is rephrased/ reversed to ‗whose
neighbour are you?‘ (vs.36) Luke here suggests that apart from addressing the powers
in spiritual places (vs. 17-24), we have another
audience - the powerful world (vs.29, 36).The next dimension in mission is to reverse
the questions the world asks about reality. Questions have a way of shaping the
answers and conclusions. The encounter with the Jewish lawyer, was more than a
lesson on good neighbourliness. Jesus was intentional about causing dissonance. He
did this by the choice of his method in responding - a story in answer to a learned
question from a learned lawyer and by intentionally making a Samaritan the hero of his
story. For Luke, this was more than a parable on the good Samaritan‘s neighbourliness.
Instead it was a suggestion that mission must reverse the questions (perceptions) the
world asks about reality.
3. (Vs33) Mission must affirm those on the fringes of our world
If mission is about initiating movements, challenging principalities and powers, and
reversing the questions posed by the world, then the key players (agents) should be
those on the fringes. Movements are built by those in the centre. Very often our mission
philosophies revolve around the centre. Luke by elaborating on the Matthew (ch 22) and
Mark (ch 12) narratives on this encounter with the Jewish lawyer, seeks to make an
important point ie., Mission must affirm those on the fringes, the Samaritans of the
world. Mission that does not empower and equip those on the fringes to be agents of
transformation, is no mission - it is merely an exercise in movement construction.
4. (Vs 35) Mission requires a stance of positive powerlessness
When the Samaritan leaves the injured traveller with the innkeeper, he makes a
promise that is reflective of positive vulnerability. The Samaritan says he will reimburse
‗whatever‘ the expense is - a blank cheque to an unknown innkeeper on behalf of an
unknown Jewish victim. The hero of the story is a vulnerable Samaritan who opts to
express his ‗greatness‘ through positive powerlessness. The baby in the manger does
not deface the power of the Sovereign God; instead, the baby is an expression of God‘s
omnipotence. In mission, servant hood is more than a frill in leadership or a mandate
only for leaders. It is a mandate for all agents of mission, if mission must yield kingdom-
quality results.
5. (Vs 38-42) Missional being must accompany missional doing

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Luke next shares another insight by his sequencing of narratives by describing Jesus‘
evening with Mary and Martha where He affirms the discipline of sitting at the Lord‘s
feet. In case the reader misunderstands mission to be bundle of activities, Luke includes
a corrective - mission includes ‗being‘ alongside doing. Missional being‘ is more than a
clinch from mission text books. The focus on ‗being‘ is critical, since mission clarifies the
identity of people. Missions require investment of self (a self that is continuously clarified
through the discipline of sitting at the Lord‘s feet).
To conclude, Luke‘s reflection on these events in Jesus‘ life and the manner in which
these are arranged bring to us some important themes for constructing a paradigm for
missional involvement in our country. The mission context in India, also demands such
a wholistic approach.
Audio Notes:
Editorial Intelligence Podcasts
Faith and International Development - A force for good?
Editorial Intelligence in association with World Vision, Newsweek and Islamic Relief
Portcullis House
Thursday 8th November 2007
Chair: Stryker McGuire, London Bureau Chief, Newsweek
Panel:
Dr Jayakumar Christian, National Director, World Vision India
Dr Hany El-Banna OBE, President, Islamic Relief
Shahid Malik MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,
Department for International Development
Shyama Perera, Writer and Broadcaster
To listen or down load the session click:
http://cdn2.libsyn.com/ei/ei-
Faith__International_Development.mp3?nvb=20081029115718&nva=20081030115718&t=0758c950
1e21eeeb87321
http://media.libsyn.com/media/ei/ei-Faith__International_Development.mp3

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SUBMISSION, SUBVERSION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

By Jayakumar Christian
Abuse, violence, exploitation, poverty, and neglect all have a strong ‗power-powerlessness‘
flavour. Analysis of these situations immediately raise the issue of power. Any transformational
initiative therefore, must address issues of power and powerlessness.
In Kanpur (India), while talking to children involved in rag picking, I enquired of them what is a
good time for collecting rags. A six-year old quickly responded saying 4 am; for ‗that‘s when
rags are fresh‘ he added. A day spent searching for fresh rags! In the midst of their ‗search‘
these children would also have to cope with adult harshness towards them. At their work place
they cope with abuse of the law and order officials and at home their parents. Parents abuse
these little ones when they return with little money. These stories of power abuse punctuate the
life of many of our children in vulnerable situations. Their identity is marred and childhood
destroyed. In situations like this it is inevitable that we, the church be the ‗voice of the children
and their communities,‘ challenging abuses of power. However, transformational mandate is to
go beyond and challenge the very nature of power; transforming flawed perceptions of power?
This brief article seeks to examine ―powerlessness and submission‖ as a way to hold to ridicule
the real intentions of world‘s power and transform it.
Kingdom of God’s tendency to reverse.
Taking our cue from the Kingdom of God‘s tendency to reverse the ‗natural order‘ it would be
appropriate to begin our conversation with Kingdom‘s understanding of power. The Kingdom‘s
strangeness and reversal are most acute when power is understood as powerlessness. In the
Kingdom of Satan, domination and oppression characterise power, built on arrogance and fear.
Jesus reversed the order and held the world‘s power perceptions to a total ridicule.i
Jesus the ‘servus servorum’

Jesus‘ perception of power seemed more like submission in the eyes of the world. Jesus
challenged the world‘s notion of power through ‗power in weakness.‘ Jesus was the servus
servorumii - a strange form of power that ushered a great reversal. In Jesus, victory is won by
the agony on the cross and the vindication of the crucified Christ through resurrection.iii
The strangeness of the power was lived out on the cross. This reversal was more than a
strategy.iv ―He (Jesus) does not just tell us ‗ I am on the other side; I am in favour of the other
people who had been victims.‘ He becomes the victim.‖v
Jesus lived out this great reversal. For Jesus it meant being a defenseless baby vi – a precursor
to the helplessness of the Crucified Christ.vii It meant the wash basin and the towel; being
misunderstood and ridiculed before people. It meant being treated as a mere option by Pilate
with an unexplainable preference for Barabbas. When rejected it meant the cross. The journey
from a defenseless baby in Bethlehem to the cross on Golgotha was a clear demonstration in
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powerlessness. This demonstration ― . . . changes our whole concept of glory, greatness,

achievement, and the development of power. Normally we look upward . . . in the case of Jesus
we have to look downwards.viii
Submission and mission

Jesus showed that the cross is the best stance for world mission. The cross suggests that
― . . . mission cannot be realized when we are powerful and confident but only when we are
weak and at a loss.‖ix The cross confounds the wise and the strong. Probably the hardest
lesson the Church will, ― . . . have to learn in the coming years is how to become again what it
originally was and was always supposed to be: the church without privileges, the church of the
catacombs rather than the halls of fame and power and wealth.x
The cross also challenges the means in mission. The cross would completely preempt the need
for ‗guns and swords‘ in the Kingdom‘s mission. We cannot do a right thing by using the wrong
means. Jesus testified to this alternative type of power at the cross.
Submission and subversive intentions
Kingdom power is best realised through submission. Intentional submission is also a radical
criticism of the world‘s power. It subverts the exploitative and abusive tendencies of world‘s
power. It challenges the very nature of power; transforming flawed perceptions of power?
Some implications for our consideration.
1. Kingdom power intentionally submits; different from imposed powerlessness of the poor.
There is a need to shift from the ‗negative lowliness‘ of their poverty to the ‗positive
lowliness‘ characteristic of the Kingdom of God.xi
2. Submission is a genuine expression of kingdom lifestyle, not a mere manipulative strategy.
An authentic expression of Kingdom lifestyle. Submission is not a strategy but a life style.
3. Submission does not distort God‘s nature. Through intentional submission we express
complete dependence on God. God‘s power is made known through our weakness. So
that the world may know without doubt that any transformation is a result of the power of
God and not through human wisdom or power (1Cor 1:19). Submission is an authentic
expression of God‘s nature.
4. Intentional submission is a radical criticism of the world‘s understanding of power. Jesus
held to light the real intentions of the world‘s power. Jesus‘ criticism of the world‘s power
― . . . is about self-giving emptiness of Jesus, about dominion through the loss of dominion,
and about fullness coming only by self emptying.xii There is no power that is greater than
the power of submission, as expressed at the cross.
5. Submission is in essence a faith act. By refusing to play the game that marks the power of
powerful, the Christian, makes a political statement. It is a way of proclaiming the
sovereignty of Jesus Christ over all powers of this age. Kingdom power when expressed in
submission witnesses to the coming of the King in all His glory.

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Submission challenges the very frame the world uses to define power – a lifestyle that
transforms.
Our bias is a message

Let the little children come . . . . .
Jaya Kumar Christian
But how can they come? There are ever so many obstacles for the girls and boys more than for
the adults, to reach the Master and their God-ordained full potential.
These obstacles are not mere issues that need sorting out between humans. These obstacles
are not merely a comment on the ‘state of the girls,’ but a reflection of the state of the society.
God is deeply concerned about these ‘obstacles.’ Let us examine some of them.
In a rag-pickers community in Chennai (India), young Sivasankari is struggling to make it
through school. Our ADP team is helping her make it. However, she was more than a school
dropout. Through systematic assaults on her identity, society intentionally excludes the girls
from the mainstream. Sivasankari’s friends often describe her as ‘one who eats food with
others' spit is found’ (food earned by begging). This is where God and His people get involved.
The girls being destroyed are those who bear His image. God had gifted these girls -- His own
image (Genesis 1:26, 5:1, and 9:6). Underlying this marring of the identity is the deliberate
distortion of the meanings ascribed to roles and responsibilities. These meanings are not
simply a matter of right or wrong meanings. It is a battle between truth and lies. The roles are
defined and responsibilities described with a particular bias against the girl child. The girls are
defined as people made for lesser purposes - lesser vocations in life. In a child labour situation,
the girls are the hidden faces of poverty and oppression. We see only the boys. Where are the
girls? The girls are at home toiling at the fireplace, so that the boys can earn. The girls also do
not go to school and do not enjoy childhood.
The passage in Lk. 9 46, Mk 9 33, Mt 18 introduces the children (includes the girls) in the
context of disciples debating ‘who is the greatest?’ Welcoming the child
is an act similar to receiving the Father and the Son. If we receive the child, we receive the
Father -- the girls and the boys.
it is an interruption in the monologue of the disciples on ‘who is the greatest?’
What awesome implications? Our bias is a message - a challenge to those who passionately
pursue the dream of being the greatest. It is a reflection of the heart of God, who is concerned
(redemptively), about the vulnerable girl and boys.. In welcoming the child, we welcome the
Father and rebuke the society.
Our response affirms the image of God gifted to the girls. It proclaims truth, challenging the lies
and the powerful. Our response is the act of welcoming the girls, - welcoming the Father into
our midst – encouraging the girls to come to God.
“The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Zech. 8:5.

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ADDRESSING POVERTY AND OPPRESSION

A case for spiritual engagement
The question of „how much space should we give for the spiritual‟ is a moot question, if we
carefully examined the nature and the many causes of poverty. Spirituality is more than a mere
motivator or programme of witnessing about God or even the personal disciplines and lifestyle of
a development worker. Engagement at the spiritual level is an adequate response to the whole of
poverty. This engagement at the spiritual level is not merely a response to context or dependent
on whether a people are spiritual or not. It is not about how primitive or materialistic a
community is and not even a product of organisational compulsions.
Poverty, carefully examined, calls for a deliberate and rigorous engagement at the spiritual1
level. Lets examine a few aspects about poverty from this perspective.
1. Poverty in its oppressive form involves the marring of the identity and the vocation of a
person / community. It is more than injustice. It is about identity. Development response
then must graduate beyond the „dignity – justice‟ frame to address the „identity2‟ of the
community.
2. The power relationships in poverty situations are characterised by a „few‟ playing gods in
the lives of the masses. Development response must grapple with the alternative to these
oppressive „gods3.‟
3. A careful examination of poverty also reflects systematic and deliberate distortions of
truth. Poverty is a captivity of a community to a web of lies, which both the non-poor
and (unfortunately) the poor believe. Poverty is about lies and development is about
challenging those lies with truth4.
4. Closely related to the issue of truth is the role of Worldview in shaping the behaviours,
relationships and actions of persons. In poverty relationships the Worldview is a major
variable. Development response must engage at the Worldview5 level to facilitate
sustainable impact.
5. Examining the reality and the role of the „cosmic powers‟ in relation to poverty, one is
confronted by the fact that these cosmic powers perpetuate and exploit poverty, create
disunity, distort truth and so on. If causes of poverty have these cosmic dimensions then
development response must engage at „cosmic‟ level6.
6. A key tool in perpetuating poverty is the deliberate distortions in a people‟s history,
essentially seeking to communicate that „your history confirms you are an born loser.‟
1
The term spirituality is used here to include a whole host of issues such as the religious and belief dimensions of persons, the human need and
ability to enter into a relationship with and be governed by the transcendent - divine - God. This ability is expressed through traits like holiness,
piety, religiosity etc.
2
To address the „flawed identity – vocation‟ we need an alternative understanding of the same. Christian spirituality affirms that human identity
is a gift from God and is in God‟s image. Identity and vocation is not an earned image.
3
Christian spirituality expressed in its teaching of the Kingdom of God offers a valid alternative that claims only the creator God can occupy that
sacred position – „God.‟
4
Development response needs a term of reference for its understanding of „truth.‟ Christian faith provides that empowering alternative.
5
The Word of God in Christian faith provides the basis for constructing the alternate Worldview.
6
Christian faith and spirituality recognises the reality of these cosmic powers without submitting to them. It provides the wherewithal including
the armour and the disciplines to engage these powers.
40 | P a g e
Sustainable development challenges this popular perception of poor communities by

rewriting7 the history.
7. Sustainable development is ultimately about positioning the poor at a threshold for
continued development (it is not a position of arrival but a place for take off). An
important element in the take off is a „peoples organisation / civil society that embodies
all the ideals of the future. Effective development demands nurturing / equipping a civil
society8 that is able to reflect the „corrected / adequate‟ position in terms of the above
„flaws / inadequacies.‟
This understanding of poverty as involving the marring of the identity and vocation, oppressive
subjection to false gods, result of distortions of truth and history, inadequacies in Worldview,
and exploitation by cosmic powers compels development teams to approaches that demand an
engagement at the spiritual level. It must be an engagement that brings to the attention of the
community its relationship with the transcendent. This engagement must be integrated into all
phases of development work – relationship building, baselines, planning and design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Evaluating an ADP – Next Generation Questions

A frame for the holistic evaluation of ADPs. Guidelines for planning an ADP evaluation are based on
Christian’s frame.
Frame for holistic evaluation of ADPs.

Seven questions for constructing the frame.
Do our area development programs show a conscious attempt to…
Heal the marred image of the poor?
Affirm consistently that the poor are made in the image of God?
Clarify the identity of the poor as God’s children with gifts and skills?
Enable the poor to see God in their history?
Initiate hope-based action for change?
Enable the poor to deal with structures, systems, values and interiorities?
Deal with the god-complexes that ensnare poor and non-poor alike?
Reverse the god-complexes that keep the poor in their poverty?

Transform power relationships?
Prophetically proclaim the truth that power is God’s?
7
The Christian faith suggests that this rewriting project and the correction in the perception be best done when we affirm the presence and the
movement of God in all nations including among the poor.
8
In Christian spirituality that „ideal civil society‟ is the first fruit of the Kingdom of God – the Church.
41 | P a g e
Reorder the relationship between truth and power (power does not equal truth)?
Counteract the deception by principalities and powers?
Establish the rule of God; announce that Jesus is Lord?

Declare the deceptions of the principalities and powers?
Unmask the ultimate powerlessness of the principalities and powers in the face of God’s rule?
Change inadequacies in worldview?
Analyse the worldview of the poor and non-poor?

Challenge the various aspects of reality that perpetuate poverty?
Enable the poor to imagine a different future?
Create hope in the midst of despair?
Redefine power?
Teach from the word; link the word to the context; allow the word to critique worldview?
Restore just and peaceful relationships?
Proclaim the truth within poverty relationships?

Establish the truth in public life?
Build covenant communities?
Develop win-win relationships?
Promote reconciliation; heal broken relationships?
Use Christian development practices?
Be highly professional?
Use prayer and fasting as tools of social action?
Use the gifts of the Spirit as tools for development action?
Enable staff to wear the full armour of God?
Transform the agents of transformation
affirm the non-poor agents of transformation are made in the image of God?
clarify the identity and the vocation of the non-poor as God’s children with gifts and skills?
enable the non-poor to see God in their history?
Equip and empower the non-poor to initiate hope-based action for change?
Equip and enable the non-poor to deal with structures, systems, values and interiorities and
proclaim the truth in public life?
Analyse and address inadequacies in the worldview of the non-poor?
Jayakumar Christian,
(Adapted from Jayakumar’s chapter in Myers, Walking with the Poor, p.201; 1996).
i
Ellul, Jacques Jesus and Marx: From Gospel to Ideology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988.
ii
Webster, J.B. “Some Notes on the Theology of Power.” The Modern Churchman 30, No.1 (1988): 17-25.
iii
Weber, Hans-Ruedi. Power: Focus for a Biblical Theology. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1989.

42 | P a g e
iv
Yoder, John Howard “Power and the Powerless.” The Covenant Quarterly 36, no. 4 (1978): 29-35.
v
Yoder, John Howard “Power and the Powerless.” The Covenant Quarterly 36, no. 4 (1978): 29-35.
vi
Moltmann, Jurgen. The Power of the Powerless. San Francisco, Calif.: Harper & Row, 1983.
vii
Prior, David. Jesus and Power. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter Varsity Press, 1987.
viii
Moltmann, Jurgen. The Power of the Powerless. San Francisco, Calif.: Harper & Row, 1983.
ix
Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. MaryKnoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books,
1991.
x
Bosch, David J. “Vision for Mission.” International Review of Mission 76, no. 301 (1987): 8-15.
xi
Bosch, David J. “Mission in Jesus‟ Way: A Perspective from Luke‟s Gospel.” Missionalia 17, no. 1 (1989): 3-21.
xii
Brueggemann, Walter. The Prophetic Imagination. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.
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1. Jayakumar Christian Receives "Alumnus of the Year" Award

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Jayakumar Christian Receives "Alumnus of the Year" Award

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Jayakumar Christian: Expenditure or investment?

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Poverty as a Disempowering System

Let me explain what Christian means by these terms.

Captivity to god complexes of the non-poor - the social system

According to Christian, the non-poor create their god-complexes by:

Seeking to absolutize themselves in the lives of the poor.

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Deception by principalities and powers - the spiritual system

Inadequacies in worldview - the cultural system

Christian moves on to the powerlessness that is reinforced by what he calls

In another example of a worldview supporting oppressive social relationships., the

The marred identity of the poor - the personal system

Second, a lifetime of deception, captivity to god-complexes, and exclusion is

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Bryant Myers, "Poverty as a Disempowering System," MARC Newsletter, #98-3,

BOOK REVIEW: GOD OF THE EMPTY-HANDED, BY JAYAKUMAR CHRISTIAN.

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough.(God of the Empty-Handed Book Review)

Jayakumar Christian, in God Of The Empty-Handed, takes a vast and meticulously

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

HAS THE WORLD BEEN WINNING AGAINST POVERTY?

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM, REALLY?

* The poor lack resources, which should therefore be opened up to them.

* Structural inadequacies skew the distribution of wealth, and these need to be

* The poor lack modernisation, which may be provided through Church-based

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO POVERTY?

Whether he would see himself as presenting a solution to poverty is unclear. However,

Christian maintains that poverty is about inequality, "specifically about inequality in

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

In a final chapter, Christian fleshes out a "Kingdom-based response to the

Christian's treatment of evangelical Christianity as he traces major developments over

Christian, Jayakumar. God Of The Empty-Handed. Monrovia, California: MARC (World

Rev. Thomas Scarborough is the minister of an Evangelical Congregational Church in

Imagining a New Future in the Midst of Poverty

Intergenerational poverty, among other things, is a product of an historical process that

Poverty is a time-related concept. It is impossible to understand the condition of the girl

Let us begin with the future.

The future and hopelessness

Hopelessness prevents meaningful action in the present. It results in disinterested

Second, powerlessness is vicious. Powerlessness destroys hope. Powerlessness and

Hopelessness-a product of history

Therefore, this article focuses on the interpreted-remembered and shared aspects of

Second, the process of history making becomes a source of powerlessness. It is

Structure of Power in American Society," published in Power in Modern Societies. In

Hopelessness and marred identity of the poor

Poverty is more than a simple issue of dignity. It is an issue of identity as well. By

For example, a community's jathi sampradaya (the caste tradition), accompanied by

Third, in their unrestrained eagerness to possess, oppressors develop the conviction

Hopelessness is today's experience

Marred identity, distorted interpretations of history, and hopelessness, combine to

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Toward enhancing hope

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

If intergenerational poverty is a product of history and identity, the challenge before us is

Jyoti Mukhia’s collection of Jaya Kumar Christian’s available works

Theirs is the Kingdom