The story of a modern-day well.
How one opened Bible became a coffee shop, a free library, and over $10,000 worth of Bibles given away every month.
How one opened Bible became a coffee shop, a free library, and over $10,000 worth of Bibles given away every month.
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."Romans 10:17
That is exactly what happened to one non-Christian girl in her mid-twenties. I was living life without a second thought about God or the Bible, and my life had become a hot mess — full of heartache and hurts. I didn't know peace and true hope were possible until I opened the Bible. I didn't know true love and forgiveness were possible until I opened the Bible. It truly changed me from the inside out.
In fact, it touched me so much that I made it my mission to share it with others. An idea arose: start a cafe that gave away free Bibles. They would never be forced on anyone — just beautifully displayed for whoever was interested. It took eight years to make that dream a reality. Every month I bought a few more Bibles, until our basement could hold no more. God is so faithful! In September of 2018, our cafe opened.
Today we give away over $10,000 worth of Bibles and devotional books every month. It truly is amazing.
"He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."1 Thessalonians 5:24 · Faye Wilson, founder
People came to draw water. They stayed to trade news, hold meetings, settle matters, and look after each other. And in John chapter 4, Jesus sat down at a well in the heat of the day — not to preach from a platform, but to talk with one person who needed to be seen.
Faye Wilson read those stories and saw a blueprint. What if a town still had a well? Not a church building with service times — a place you'd walk into anyway. Good coffee. A comfortable chair. A room you could borrow for free. And the Word of God sitting right there on the shelf, free to anyone who wanted to take it home.
"My heart has always been in Westbrook. I love the community here and this was the perfect place to do this." Faye Wilson, founder
On a corner of old railroad land in Westbrook, the well took shape: Roots Cafe up front serving fair-trade organic coffee and from-scratch, gluten-free food. Beside it, a free lending library — books on grief, addiction, marriage, depression, kindness — borrowed and returned on trust, no card, no record, no questions.
"We never could have dreamed we could have a location like this one," Faye said that fall. "I am in shock and awe."
From day one there were free Bibles by the library — a child's first Bible, teen devotionals, large print for grandparents. Never forced on anyone, just beautifully displayed for whoever was interested.
And people were interested. Today the ministry gives away over $10,000 worth of Bibles and devotional books every single month — taken home by neighbors and shared with other ministries — and we wouldn't have it any other way. The Word of God does its own work; our job is just to keep handing it out.
"It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit." Isaiah 55:11
Green Tree Ministries has no paid staff — not Faye, not anyone. She and a small circle of volunteers run the ministry, the library, and the shelf, and every dollar given goes where it was meant to go: into the Word of God, handed to a neighbor.
One word sums up what she's built, and it's the word she'd choose herself: love. Not talked about — lived out.
Every Bible on that shelf was put there by someone who believed a stranger should get to meet Jesus for free. Be that someone, every month.