The community cafe, which serves soup and main dishes made in Martna as well as baked goods prepared by local village women, was first opened nearly a year ago for a very practical reason — the money raised by the cafe goes toward paying the cemetery caretaker's salary.

"Our cemetery caretaker is employed full-time," Valk noted. "I've tried to suggest we make it a part-time position or something, but then he'll ask which half of the cemetery he should maintain in that case. The work he does is immediately visible, and we have the most well-kept cemetery in Lääne County. Everyone marvels and admires it."

The pastor saw no other option for paying the caretaker the minimum wage. She noted that Lääne-Nigula Municipality does cover half of his salary, but added that their congregation itself consists of just a handful of people.

"As churchgoers, we of course pray, but prayer alone isn't always enough — sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves," she acknowledged.

Among the cafe's customers are various local workers.

"The Martna garage guys come by — they've made arrangements with us to do so — and farmers are still coming in on their own for now," Valk said. "Once they start working in the fields this summer, we'll see whether we need to start offering delivery for them. There's one elderly man I take food to in his social housing unit three times a week. He uses a walker, and the steps there are so unreasonably high that he can't leave the building."

Food at the cafe is offered in exchange for donations. Customers can pay as much as they like, or follow a list of suggested donations.

"I've recommended people think of it this way: when you make a donation, do so in a way that when you look back on your day that evening, you can be proud of yourself," the pastor explained.

"I don't watch how much [food] each person takes, or count how many bites they take or how much soup they heap in their bowl," she continued. "It's a good thing when someone can eat their fill and has the energy to get back to work."

Community care also on the menu

But this tiny cafe offers more than just food. Since the local family doctor retired and their replacement only visits Martna once a week, people can also come here to get their blood pressure checked.

The cafe also hosts little festivals on Fridays, kids can come in to do crafts and the cafe can even be booked for birthdays and events when it's not open for regular business.

The cafe space has historically housed both a cafe and a bar.

"Right before us, there was a group here that tried to establish a daily center and host workshops; back then, this place was full of all kinds of clutter and noise," Valk recalled.

The space needed some work, and even now, part of the ceiling is still leaking.

"Honestly, I'm actually glad we didn't get a perfect, fully finished space," she admitted. "It means we have to contribute a bit ourselves."

According to Valk, cafe visitors have gotten used to the fact that she's a pastor.

"I save my formal sermons for Sundays — you have to go somewhere else to hear those," she said. "But people here will still ask me things like what's the deal with sin, and whether someone else is more sinful than they are. So then I explain. So I'm still here."

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