Unyielding Hope (When Hope Calls Book #1) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Janette Oke

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166 pages

English

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As a young girl, Lillian Walsh lost both her parents and a younger sister. Now in her twenties, after enduring the death of her adoptive mother, Lillian must find her place in the world. Just as her adoptive father is leaving for an extended trip to his native Wales, a lawyer appears at the door to inform Lillian that she has inherited a small estate from her birth parents--and that the sister she had long believed dead is likely alive.When she discovers that her sister, Grace, is living in a city not far away, Lillian rushes to a reunion, fearful that the years of separation will make it hard to reconnect. When the two sisters meet, Grace is not at all what Lillian expected to find. Though her circumstances have been difficult, Grace has big dreams. Can Lillian set aside her own plans to join her sister in an adventure that will surely change them both?

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Historical fiction

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	05 mai 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493425150
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0408€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Cover
Half Title Page
Books by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan
W HEN H OPE C ALLS
Unyielding Hope
R ETURN TO THE C ANADIAN W EST
Where Courage Calls • Where Trust Lies • Where Hope Prevails
Dana’s Valley
Also look for Janette Oke: A Heart for the Prairie by Laurel Oke Logan
Books by Janette Oke
Return to Harmony* • Another Homecoming* • Tomorrow’s Dream*
A CTS OF F AITH *
The Centurion’s Wife • The Hidden Flame • The Damascus Way
C ANADIAN W EST
When Calls the Heart • When Comes the Spring • When Breaks the Dawn When Hope Springs New • Beyond the Gathering Storm • When Tomorrow Comes
L OVE C OMES S OFTLY
Love Comes Softly • Love’s Enduring Promise • Love’s Long Journey
Love’s Abiding Joy • Love’s Unending Legacy • Love’s Unfolding Dream
Love Takes Wing • Love Finds a Home
A P RAIRIE L EGACY
The Tender Years • A Searching Heart • A Quiet Strength • Like Gold Refined
S EASONS OF THE H EART
Once Upon a Summer • The Winds of Autumn
Winter Is Not Forever • Spring’s Gentle Promise
S ONG OF A CADIA *
The Meeting Place • The Sacred Shore • The Birthright
The Distant Beacon • The Beloved Land
W OMEN OF THE W EST
The Calling of Emily Evans • Julia’s Last Hope • Roses for Mama
A Woman Named Damaris • They Called Her Mrs. Doc
The Measure of a Heart • A Bride for Donnigan • Heart of the Wilderness
Too Long a Stranger • The Bluebird and the Sparrow
A Gown of Spanish Lace • Drums of Change
* with Davis Bunn
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2020 by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-2515-0
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by LOOK Design Studio
Cover photography by Mike Habermann Photography, LLC
Dedication
To Janette’s grandchildren: Vladimir and Anastasia, Laurel’s children, and Ambrosia, Lavon’s daughter, who were all adopted into our Oke family and who are so precious to us.
And to our two ancestors who actually came from England to Canada as Home Children, much like the characters in this novel: Edward Oke, Laurel’s great-great-grandfather, crossed the Atlantic at age fourteen to find his new family, and Daisy Oke, his adopted granddaughter, joined the family years later the same way.
And lastly, this book is written with great regard for other Home Children and their families.
Contents
Cover 1
Half Title Page 2
Books by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan 3
Title Page 4
Copyright Page 5
Dedication 6
Preface 9
1. Lillian 13
2. Lemuel 31
3. Grace 41
4. The City 54
5. Discovery 61
6. Crossroads 84
7. Adjustments 103
8. Bryony 117
9. School 135
10. Hazel 151
11. Guests 168
12. Doctor Shepherd 182
13. Matty and Milton 196
14. Picnic 211
15. Hope Valley 224
16. Gifts 246
17. George 258
18. Marisol 278
19. Thief 291
20. Sacrifice 303
21. Kin 314
Epilogue 330
About the Authors 333
Back Ads 335
Cover Flaps 338
Back Cover 339
Preface
I t started out so promising. Annie MacPherson, a Scottish Quaker, and many others were determined to help the impoverished children of Great Britain but quickly found themselves overwhelmed by the size of the problem of poverty and its horrendous impact on children and families. During the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution lured people away from the English farms and hamlets into the overcrowded cities, where diseases spread quickly. So the idea of sending street children and orphans to other countries within the British Empire—to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and regions of Africa—must have seemed inspired at the time. These needy kids came to be called Home Children, and the movement spread to such an extent that it’s estimated that one out of every ten Canadians is related to one of these immigrants.
In theory, these children would be sent to families who had the means to care for them far from England’s slums and workhouses. Their new homes would be places with fresh air and bountiful farmland—where scant populations would actually benefit from new residents. Between 1869 and the 1930s, more than 100,000 children were shipped out from England, quite literally. Imagine moving as a helpless child from the alleys of London to Australia, New Zealand, Africa, or the seemingly endless prairies of Canada!
The Canadian government was grateful to participate, pleased to have the new residents and happy to collect a small sum for each child. Canadian citizens, too, seemed hopeful about the program. There reportedly was an average of seven applications for every child entering the country this way. The young nation needed more settlers, more workers, more citizens—even England’s children would be welcomed, particularly boys old enough to work. In the United States there was a similar program of “orphan trains” that originated in the crowded American East and carried the children into the West.
But all of the good intentions frequently turned tragic. For one thing, the children were routinely trained with practical skills, and so they came to be marketed by many along the way as free labor rather than new family members. Even the contracts that were signed by both family and child sounded much more like indentured servitude than adoption. Typically, the terms stated that the child would be educated, receive a small allowance for his or her labor, and would complete his or her responsibilities at age eighteen. What had been intended as genuine benevolence sadly transformed into an immigration scheme.
And even more tragic, abuse was not uncommon and the intended evaluations of the children’s welfare post-placement didn’t always take place. It wasn’t until the 1980s that research done by Margaret Humphreys began to expose the extent of the failure. These revelations eventually caused some of the nations involved to apologize for their participation—far too late to change the circumstances, of course. The children in our novel have stories compiled from actual accounts and situations faced by Home Children. Sadly, the following fictional accounts are not overstated at all for dramatic effect.
But hardest of all to hear are the stories told by elderly adults who were themselves Home Children. Many rarely spoke of their tragic childhood, preferring not to admit their past even to their own descendants. Why? Because of the dreadful stigma of being called “gutter rats” and being outcasts. People of the time considered orphans from the workhouses to be just a step above those gathered from the streets. Common belief held that they’d never amount to anything, would become thieves and thugs like their good-for-nothing parents clearly had been. Public opinion was far from openhearted. It was this stigma that prompted these aged immigrants to weep as they told their stories at last for posterity.
It’s a lesson for us today if we choose to listen. We also have children within our communities in desperate need of homes and permanent families. But it’s not as simple as just removing them from “bad” homes and placing them in the care of the state—or even finding “better” homes and then considering the job complete, as well intentioned as this may be. Any child who has lost his or her birth family is wounded deeply. It doesn’t matter if they were infants at the time. It doesn’t matter how awful their original situation was. Losing your first family—your birth mother, your birth father, your biological siblings—leaves a deep, deep wound. In fact, new research suggests through use of brain scans that these children are often measurably affected, particularly if abuse was a factor.
They need love, acceptance, affirmation, and healing. For most, it takes a lifetime of restoration in stages. Internally, the questions often nag well into their adult lives: Am I worthy of love? Will I be rejected again? Am I different than others?
We pray we’d learn the lessons from history so we won’t repeat mistakes. The Bible says that if we give charity without love we gain nothing. Children are never just wards to administrate. They’re uniquely created individuals. And though they may seem resilient on the outside, we can’t overestimate the complexities of the heart and soul of a person, and the impact of trauma in early life. Only as we love those around us and really listen when they speak can we be the hands and feet of Jesus to the “least of these.” Are we ready to make a difference, to meet the challenges we face in our own generation? That’s the enduring question.
For more information:
https://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com
http://www.britishhomechildrenregistry.com
C HAPTER 1 Lillian
M ama.” The word came quietly at first, then grew in intensity. “Mama! Mama!” Lillian’s small body wrestled in the dark bedroom until her thick quilt became tangled, constricting around her tiny shoulders. Still the nightmare persisted. Droplets of sweat formed beneath her hair and began to slide in lines down her neck, soaking into her flannel nightgown. She fought with frail arms against the bondage that her blankets had become. “Mama, where are you?”
Abruptly, the slit of light tracing her door broade