13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Calling of Emily Evans - A GREAT book!, June 9, 2000
This book is about a woman who is called by God to set up a church. She has many problems along the way, including poor attendance, a low food supply, and a difficulty convincing people that God is indeed real and needed in every single life. She does NOT step out of the boundaries of the Bible. Emily simply sets up a church and teaches because there is no preacher in the area. She doesn't preach, only tries to help people see the importance of a faith in God and tries to help them understand the Bible and how important it is. This is a wonderful book that helped me understand things more clearly and get things sorted out in my own faith. I thank Janette Oke for writing such a great book.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Janette Oke has done it again!, January 27, 1999
By A Customer
I thouroly enjoyed reading this book! When I first read the description I thought that maybe she was stepping out of the lines of the Bible. I thought I would read it and see what hapend. It turned out that she was right on. In this book Emily Evans feels that God is calling her to start a church for Him. So she finds herself in a strange city, trying to set a church up in an old billard hall! She faces many hardships thourgh the two years written about. Thourgh the book though Emily made it clear that she was just wanting to start the church, and that when she married she would turn the preaching over to her husband! This was a great piece of Christian fiction, and I am glad that she showed what it is like serving the Lord!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Her Best, April 25, 2004
A Kid's Review
Despite the fact that Mrs. Oke created a good plot for this book, I was keenly disappointed in it. I felt as though Mrs. Oke knew not how to write about certain scenes in the book. She therefore, quickly brushed through that certain scene and TOLD us what happened, not necessarily SHOWED us. It seemed as if huge chunks of the story were missing, leaving me hungry for those chunks. I didn't particularly, like the ending at all. Although I believe in surprise endings, which is what she gave us, this ending didn't quite seem to fit. True, all of Emily's (the main character) struggles would have been solved with the ending (I'm not telling you just what the ending was...he he.), but...I don't know, I was also disappointed with it. Now, Mrs. Oke didn't do such a bad job; the plot of the story was very charming itself. Mrs. Oke just didn't do the best job of telling it.
The plot begins with Emily Evans, a slight, young, and not the healthiest woman, studying dutifully away at Bible School. She isn't the brightest little thing and has to work harder than others to achieve her good grades. She isn't quite sure what's she doing at Bible school, but she strongly feels it's what God wants her to do, for ever since she was young, she's had a strong desire to serve the Lord. Then, during chapel one day, she decided to fill that desire and become the "deaconess" at the mission in Wesson Creek. Her father packed a bunch of gunny sacks and crates and sent her off, although he wasn't too sure that any woman (no matter of their health) should do the preaching. He thought that preaching was a man's job, and especially since Emily is so often sick, I guess you could say he sort of resented her going. Nevertheless, he gives her his blessing and prays for the best.
Once Emily arrives, she is very disappointed in her house and church. She spends about a week fixing it up (with the help of some crews). Then, she holds her first service and is once again disappointed, except this time, it's in the size of her congregation. Emily struggles on, meeting new people, finding enough money for her food, and laboriously preparing sermons. She even falls in love with Shad, but his unbelief in God, makes it seem rather hypocritical to allow him calling. Big John, the mercantile owner, poses hard questions for Emily to answer, and she has to do some researching. To sum up, the book is all about Emily's struggle to obey God's calling, even though it isn't her first choice.
All in all, I guess what I'm trying to say is that; Oke had a good plot, but skipped some major parts. The book was ending all too soon.
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