In the small town of Hope it was big news when the stranger came to town. Many of the people who lived there had never lived anywhere else. The stranger moved into Mr. Fuller’s old house, you know the one down by the bend in the road. A few of the neighbors stopped by and met the stranger. The conversations were brief but the neighbors left with a feeling that this new stranger would make a good member of their community.

Hope was a small town on the edge of Nowhere in Particular County. Well there hadn’t been much in the way of a downtown area ever since the hardware store closed up. The gas station and the bank were really the only businesses in town. Word spread quickly that the stranger had bought Mr. Meyer’s old hardware store. For months the townspeople would watch the stranger enter the store in the morning and leave in the evening. People were curious about what was going on in there.

Then word started to leak out that the stranger was going to open a restaurant. This got people really excited and they began to muse to one another about what type of restaurant it would be. Would it be a barbeque joint like the one that was in town years ago? Or maybe it would be an Italian place with pizza and spaghetti. The speculation continued as the hardware store went through the transformation into a restaurant.

Then one day, a sign went up, covering the old hardware sign. It read: Come and Get It Café. The excitement really started buzzing now. A big banner was draped over the front of the store: Grand Opening This Friday. Well everyone in the town of Hope knew where they were going to be that Friday night.

Friday night rolled around and the Come and Get It Café was truly the place to be. The whole town was there but somehow nobody had to stand up and wait their turn for a table. Couples sitting at a table for four pulled out the extra chairs and offered their neighbors a place to sit. Single people were welcomed to sit at the table with neighbors. The noise of the excited townspeople was deafening.

As soon as you opened the door, you could smell it. The townspeople tried to find words to describe these new and mouthwatering smells coming from the kitchen. Friendly debates between the people came up as they tried to guess what was going to be on the menu. Some said they smelled fried chicken and green beans. Others said they smelled the exotic spices of Indian fare.

Then after everyone in town had arrived, the dinner bell rang and out from the kitchen came the stranger pushing a serving trolley on which were piles of plates and platters of food stacked up so high it is a wonder things didn’t topple off onto the floor. The stranger served the people and the people began to eat. There was a brief lull in the conversation as people took their first bites of food.

Then the compliments began to pour forth. One person exclaimed, "This is the best food I’ve ever tasted." One of the town elders said, "It’s almost like this is what I’ve been hungry for my whole life and didn’t even know it." One of the young adults who had been away at college said, "It tastes like home – but better."

The meal continued until late in the night. The people savored every bite of food and every sip of their drinks. Then when everyone’s hunger was satisfied and everyone’s thirst was sated, they began to look for the cash register so they could check out and go home.

People at the table whispered to each other: "Do you think the stranger will bring the bill or do we go to the counter to pay?" "Do you see a counter to pay?" "No, maybe the stranger will bring the bill."

So they waited a little longer and no bill came to the tables. So finally one of the townspeople caught the eye of the stranger and asked what he owed. "My treat," was the reply. The townsperson was taken aback and said, "Surely you must let me pay you something, perhaps just a little tip. The food was so good, let me offer you something in return." The stranger smiled at the townspeople and said, "Your money’s no good here. I’m glad you enjoyed the meal. Come back any time." And with that the stranger went into the kitchen.

The townspeople sat in a stunned silence for a few moments. Then a few at a time they began to get up and go to their houses. They muttered among themselves that this must be a brilliant marketing ploy. They had gotten the chance to taste the best food they had ever tasted. The stranger must have known that once they tasted this food they would be back for more. The stranger also must have known they would tell their friends and then business would be booming. The stranger would probably charge an extravagant price after this night and would make a mint.

On Saturday night the Come and Get It Café was booming again. The townspeople had told their friends and word had traveled throughout the whole county that this was the best place to eat. Even though the crowd was bigger than the night before, there was still somehow room for everyone. The people who had been in the building when it was a hardware store figured the stranger must have expanded the building or maybe just used decorating tricks like mirrored walls to make the room seem bigger. But before they could really wonder how everyone fit inside, the stranger came out of the kitchen with the food and the people began to feast.

After the meal was over there was that time again of wondering how much the bill would be. Once again a townsperson asked the stranger how much they owed for the meal and once again the stranger said, "It’s on the house."

As the people exited the restaurant, they wondered to one another that the stranger must have taken quite a financial risk to not charge for the meals during his grand opening. Surely this stranger had either a brilliant mind for marketing or was a complete fool.

Word continued to spread about the Come and Get It Café located in Hope on the edge of Nowhere in Particular County. People would come from miles around just to eat there. There was a rumor that a food critic from one of the major newspapers was coming to review the restaurant. In his review, this critic of fine food was only able to invite others to visit the Come and Get It Café for themselves. He said that for once in his life, he was at a loss of words to describe the food he had eaten. It was something everyone would have to experience for themselves.

So every night people would come to Hope just to experience the food at the Come and Get It Café. And every night when the time came to pay the bill, the stranger told the people that he couldn’t accept their money. Every meal was on the house.

Some people in town were just waiting for the restaurant to close. Surely no business could operate for very long if they didn’t charge for their services! But year after year, the Come and Get It Café stayed open and night after night, year after year, the stranger would end the meal by telling the people that their money was no good there and they were welcome back any time.

One family wanted to have their reunion at the Café. They approached the stranger and asked if they could hold a private party there. The stranger turned him down saying that there would be no private parties at the Come and Get It Café. The doors would always be open to any one and everyone who came to Hope hungry.

Everyone who left the Come and Get It Café was satisfied. Even the pickiest eater was amazed at the things she tasted. Every one who came to Hope, visited the Come and Get It Café, and everyone left full. No one left Hope empty.

The stranger even took out a full-page ad in the newspaper. It read, "Everyone who is thirsty, come to Hope. If you have no money, come to Hope. Come, Eat, Drink, be Satisfied. Come to the Come and Get It Café – there there’s always room for one more." At the bottom of the ad were directions to the Come and Get It Café. You take the road from Faith on the edge of Nowhere in Particular County and you can’t miss Hope – it’s about the only place you can get to from Faith.

Would you like to visit the Come and Get It Café? You might not know this but it’s actually a chain restaurant. But it’s not one of those places where you can buy a cheap mass-produced hamburger and over-sugared drinks. A visit to the Come and Get It Café leaves everyone full and satisfied. And the rates are the same in all locations: It’s all on the house. It’s already been paid for.

"Listen, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."

The doors of the Come and Get It Café are always open and everyone is welcome. The Come and Get It Café – just take the road from Faith and you will surely find Hope.