In 2023, Elise Stevens of Union, Oregon “vocally heard” God telling her to make sourdough bread. “Within a couple of weeks, I had loaves of sourdough bread coming out of my ears. I made my own starter. I did it all on my own. I was handing sourdough bread out to everybody in my town, just giving it away. And then I started selling bagels out of my home, then I started making dinner for my Bible study that I was hosting,” Stevens told Fox News Digital. Then last April, she heard God with a new call to open a restaurant. Despite her husband Derek’s concern that they had “no money,” Stevens followed the call. After a woman in her community handed her a $5,000 check, she opened up MeeMaw’s Hometown Kitchen.

What makes the restaurant so unique is its pay-what-you-can model, with adult patrons only asked to pay what they can afford. Stevens makes around 30 to 80 meals a day for children, who are never required to pay. Stevens, now affectionately known as MeeMaw in her community, is able to run the restaurant through funds she receives through social media. “I have no other source of income… God made it very clear that we were to only do this ministry. This is a ministry more than it is a restaurant,” she said.

Stevens’ faith is behind her commitment to ministry, though her life has not always been easy. Twenty years ago, she escaped a highly abusive relationship with her three-week old baby. “I was held hostage for five months while pregnant with my oldest daughter,” Stevens recalled. “I gave birth while in captivity and when she was three weeks old, I escaped captivity and I met my husband. I had to take my safety into my own hands, so I jokingly asked a friend if he would be my bodyguard, and just a few weeks later we ended up getting married, and we’re still married today.”

Just like Stevens had to escape to safety, the restaurant bills itself as a “refuge, a gathering place, and a tribute to the power of family, community, and God.” Its website also references Romans 12:20, which says, “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” And, despite the possible uncertainty of a pay-what-you-can model, the restaurant finds a way to make ends meet. “I make an income off of social media. I make [an] income off telling my story to different outlets, different areas, and any form of money that I make off of my story gets donated back to my restaurant. We’re also funded by donations from people all over the United States.” Despite the restaurant’s success, Stevens doesn’t claim all the glory for herself. “I don’t do this for the fame, I literally give God all the glory.”