Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful adventure of a woman who loves God.
Review: "The Calling of Emily Evans" is a wonderful book about Emily Evans as she gose to a Bible college then trys to open a church in a church baren country. As you read this book you realize the pain that Emily gose thouugh, and the joy as well, as she leaves her confort zone and shows God's love to the people that God has put in her life.
Rating: 
Summary: Religious, or not religious - this is still a good book.
Review: "The Calling of Emily Evans" was much better than I expected. I took this out from my library not knowing how deeply religious it was, but with all of it's biblical and religious means, I still enjoyed the plot. It shows, that with, or without faith in anything, you can still be strong. But, what I dislike about Oke's books is the lack of an epilogue. All of her books end suddenly, without any closure. Very disappointing. Nonetheless, I recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Her Best
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.
Rating:
Summary: Another magnificent story by Janette Oke
Review: Emily Evans has always known that God wanted her to dedicate her life to him, but she never knew just what that was until one day at Missionary school. Reverend Witt gave a sermon on being "called" to do missionary work for the Lord. Emily felt God speaking to her telling her to step forward, and this is just what she did. Although only men could be actual preachers, women were being asked to help start new churches. She would be allowed to preach sermons and have her own congregation. The only thing standing in her way was her father. He was not so sure about his young daughter going out on her to start a church. After praying to God to open her father's heart, he finally relented on letting her go. When Emily came to Wesson Creek, she was not welcomed with open arms. There were very few who actually wanted t o attend church. Therefore she decided to call on people in and out of town. She kept reminding herself that she could only open the door and God would do the rest. As time went on she found that although she was the one preaching, the people of Wesson Creek helped her come closer to God by building her own faith. Along with learning about faith, Emily also had to realize that finding love with a man would not be easy with her calling. The Calling of Emily Evans is a wonderful read. This is a book that this reviewer feels every young Christian woman should read. Emily herself is a remarkable character. She always puts God first, and this is not easily done for any person especially a young woman on her own. She trusts that God will always provide for her no matter how low on food or how small her allowance is. Emily is what every Christian aspires to be. Janette Oke has written another magnificent story. --- reviewed by JoAnn Miller for Christian Bookshelf
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Summary: Janette Oke has done it again!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Not Her Best
Review: Janette Oke
"The Calling of Emily Evans"
Canadian West
Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1990
222 pp. $5.50
0-553-80562-2 Do you like to read about things of the past? Did you ever wonder how the gospel was spread throughout the Canadian West prairies? Do you like reading a love story with a Christian theme. Then "The Calling of Emily Evans" would be a perfect choice for you. This book was written by Janette Oke, pronounced "Oak", under the genre of Christian fiction. She is an expert in this field of writing and one of the pioneers in writing in this style. She has won numerous awards that highlight her already glowing career in writing. Her first book "Love Comes Softly" has sold over one million copies. She has won the President's Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, the CBA Life Impact Award, and the Gold Medallion Book Award.
The targeted audience that the author writes to is women ages 16 - 24. She has also written some children's books. I believe that any women regardless of age would enjoy this book. The purpose of this book was to inform the readers of the missionary life of a women. The author researched many conference journals that spoke of the various things that went on with the women in the ministry. There is a dedication page that dedicates her book to all the women of the Missionary Church. The next page then tells a short biography about the author. The table of contents then follows listing the prologue first then the chapters are listed and on what page they begin. The chapters run smoothly from one to the other, they all fit together perfectly in harmony.
To summarize the book it begins by talking of a girl whose name is Emily Evans that is in Bible college. She felt lead by God to go to Bible college and while there listening to a sermon she feels that God has called her to preach. The church places her in a town called Wesson Creek. This is where she resides as she faces the trials and tribulations of being a minister of the Lord. Times are hard for young Emily, but with the help of God to strengthen her she has a small congregation. She falls in love with a young gentlemen but he does not have a commitment to God and so she can not let herself become involved. By the closing of the book this young man turns his life over to God and returns to his call from God that he had spurned when his preacher father died, and then his mother. He had become bitter towards God and did not want anything to do with God. But seeing a young girl taking on the task of feeding the flock, a ministry that he should have been doing. He came under conviction and turned back to God. He went back to Bible college and then asked Emily if she would be his wife.
The authors style of writing is simple and logical. She uses the broken dialect of the west with some of her characters which makes the story seem more real. You can feel each and every feeling that her characters are conveying, this is what makes this a great book. The only weakness that I can see is that the author portrays the use of a woman as a preacher as Biblical. This does not go along with the scriptures. They may have been used in the Missionary Church but there is no Biblical basis for this assumption. I think that the author should have thought on what the Bible says about such things. For example in I Timothy 2:12 "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Also in I Timothy 3:2 "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;" These are but just few examples of what the scriptures say.
The strengths of this book are many. One can read this book and hear the gospel. The reader can come to know Christ as his Savior if he/she reads this book. Another strength is that the author knows and has researched how hard it was for families to provide just the basic necessities of life for themselves. She portrays their lifestyle with much conviction and truthfulness.
I believe this book does target the audience that it is intended for. It is also suitable for women that are older than her targeted age group and also even men. I liked the book and it was one of those books that you couldn't wait to turn the page so that you could see what was going to happen next. The only thing that I didn't like was the woman being a preacher, that would be one of the factors in my recommending this book to anyone else. I could not recommend a book that goes against anything that the Bible says is wrong. By Allison Dolan
English 101
B. Whitener
November 18, 2003
Rating:
Summary: A tender and touching story
Review: The Calling of Emily Evans is a tender and touching story. Young Emily gets her calling to become a pastor while in Bible School. While her father doesn't want her to go off by herself to minister to a new community, Emily's mind is made up. This is her calling and it is what she's going to do. Emily does not have an easy time trying to build her congregation. She is met by challenges but faces them head on. She never gives up. She is very determined to make her church successful and doesn't want anyone to know when time are hard for her. The Calling is a wonderful story. Ms. Oke writes about characters the reader finds themselves caring about. From Emily to Big John the characters are wonderfully written. The plot is good and the development of the characters is excellent. This book is great! It is a tender,touching story that will warm your heart. Definitely worth reading and recommending to someone! Read today!!
Rating:
Summary: A tender and touching story
Review: The Calling of Emily Evans is a tender and touching story. Young Emily gets her calling to become a pastor while in Bible School. While her father doesn't want her to go off by herself to minister to a new community, Emily's mind is made up. This is her calling and it is what she's going to do. Emily does not have an easy time trying to build her congregation. She is met by challenges but faces them head on. She never gives up. She is very determined to make her church successful and doesn't want anyone to know when time are hard for her. The Calling is a wonderful story. Ms. Oke writes about characters the reader finds themselves caring about. From Emily to Big John the characters are wonderfully written. The plot is good and the development of the characters is excellent. This book is great! It is a tender,touching story that will warm your heart. Definitely worth reading and recommending to someone! Read today!!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: This account of a young woman following God's voice to the mission field in an era where women were only supposed to marry the first boy or man that came along and raise a family is truly inspirational. Not that I have anything against raising families. This book inspired me to believe through writing only as Jeanette Oke can, that I too, even with a family of my own can be used by God. What a wonderful adventure in someone elses shoes as well! I highly reccomend this book!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT BOOK !
Review: THIS BOOK I COULD NOT PUT DOWN! Emily Evans went to Bible School and answerd the her God given calling. By starting a parish in a small town without very many parishioners she had a hard time even finding food to eat. I think if you read this book you will love it as much as I did. One tip dont read the last 2 pages before you get to that point.
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