From within the boundaries of the Catholic Church, which is the most symbolic version of Christianity because of Catholicism's blatant, explicit obedience to Church tradition, we see a new picture of religion. In this memoir, God's work is not done by magical fairies. The problems are not fixed by prayer alone, but by prayerful science, attempting to actually fix problems instead of just treating them for their religious merit. God's work is done by real people, says this book, people who work hard to collaborate with others and make an effective solution to a tangible problem.
The act of collaboration is the book's central theme, and since the context of the story is that it is a literal minister telling his literal story, therefore, we know what his theology looks like. Instead of praying magical prayers from within the walls of a parish, this minister started a non-profit, without ever leaving his office from church. Therefore, there is an argument being made that real Christian ministry needs to be effective and formidable.
This means that brave people need to go into ministry, knowing the challenges that face them. How can a church really support an impoverished community? It isn't by taking their money, it seems. Perhaps more churches should learn a lesson from this ministerial example, because after all, if the church's real effect were that it really made communities better, wouldn't that be a better argument for the truth of Jesus Christ than just word service alone? This is what it looks like to serve God instead of praying to God and waiting for miracles.
