Rachel Morse (back row, center) and some employees pose inside her store, The Olive Press, in Tupelo, Mississippi. Morse’s store provides employment and spiritual support to women in recovery from addiction, trafficking, abuse or reintegrating into society after incarceration. Photo courtesy of Rachel Morse
When Rachel Morse began working at a stationary company, she never would have imagined the kingdom work God had in store for her. What started as a hobby, printing her artwork and selling it on Etsy for extra income, quickly took off. Soon, The Olive Press Etsy store was doing so well that she needed help.
“At that point, I had been praying for about two years about how my work could be kingdom work,” Morse said. “I had ideas in my head that I thought was what Jesus wanted me to do, and He just quickly showed me that it was in who I could hire to help me.”
Morse said she immediately contacted recovery centers, ministries and transformation homes and decided to start hiring. With these new hires, Morse’s business grew dramatically.
“One of these women was in recovery, and I knew that was where God was pointing me… Before long, I needed more help, and so it just…completely grew into a full business,” Morse said.
Shown above is The War Room located inside the Olive Press in Tupelo, Mississippi. Here, customers can lounge, browse books or have a cup of coffee. Photo courtesy of Rachel Morse
God provisioned a storefront for the site, which eventually blossomed into a full store, complete with a bookstore, coffee shop, library nook and a prayer wall.
The Olive Press’s mission and name origin
When asked about The Olive Press’s mission, Morse said, “Our main mission is to employ not just women in recovery but women from all types of different walks of life that may just be in a broken situation or a survivor of human trafficking.”
The Olive Press gets its name from The Garden of Gethsemane. According to Britannica, Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew phrase “gat shemanim,” which translates to “olive press” in English.
According to Morse, “One of my favorite images from the whole Bible is Jesus the night before He was crucified in the Garden of Gethsemane and Him being pressed by the weight of the world to the point of bleeding, blood coming out of His pores. And then, the imagery of Him being in the Garden of Gethsemane, which literally means it was ‘the Garden of the press of the olives.’ It takes the weight of that press to press those olives and get that oil.”
A Christ-centered work environment
Morse said her business aims to provide a healthy, Christ-centered work environment. She said, “We just want these women to be encouraged and not be thrown into a factory setting where they’re back around drug use or things like that.”
Morse said The Olive Press has a mentorship program. These mentors take employees to lunch weekly, provide support and friendship and attend important events with them, like court dates.
Morse also discussed spiritual activities inside the store: “We also do a morning devotional…and we don’t hesitate to stop and talk about the Word or pray together or for a customer.”
Morse said The Olive Press requires recovering employees to either actively participate or have graduated from a recovery program, providing outside accountability. Most employees find The Olive Press through word of mouth, either from someone at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), drug court or a recovery program.
Shown above is an example of the hand towels offered at the Olive Press. These hand towels feature original artwork. Photo courtesy of Rachel Morse
Seeking mentors from Tupelo
If you are in the Tupelo, Mississippi area and are interested in mentoring, The Olive Press is currently seeking mentors. You can reach The Olive Press at [email protected]. According to Morse, they currently have two women without mentors, and she’s struggling to find mentors in the surrounding area who are willing to pour into these women.
A shortage of mentors is not stopping Morse’s efforts to support her employees. On November 7, the Olive Press will hold a mentor tea to introduce the mentorship program to community members.
Morse brainstorms new ways to help her employees
Morse wants to provide her employees with even more resources in the future for financial advising, budgeting and dental services. She also recognizes that finding a home after completing a program can be costly and challenging. To help women with this difficult transition, she plans to begin a tiny house program.
Above is an example of the pillow designs offered at The Olive Press. Photo courtesy of Rachel Morse
Humble Beginnings
Morse said when the store began four years ago, she had 10 or 15 pillow designs. She also said, “Now, we have over a thousand designs on Etsy, and we print them on pillows, towels, and T-shirts. We make bookmarks, stationary, folded notes, matted prints that you can frame, all sorts of things, but our biggest is mainly the pillows, towels, T-shirts and some paper products.”
The Olive Press has grown significantly since its humble beginnings. According to Morse, “So right now, we are up to eight women, which is fantastic and so exciting, and we could use more. It is growing every single day.”
Above is an assortment of bookmarks offered at The Olive Press. Photo courtesy of Rachel Morse
The shop started with one wholesale account on Etsy and now has around 120 wholesale accounts nationwide. Morse attributes this growth to social media (The Olive Press’s Facebook page is here) and word of mouth.
Selling for a Cause
The Olive Press also offers third-party products, all sourced from companies with similar missions. According to Morse, “I try to order about 90% of all mission or faith-based products.”
Morse said that now that their local Lifeway has closed down, The Olive Press wishes to be a local source for Christian literature. They offer Bibles, Devotionals, Bible studies, Bible cases and more. These products are featured in The War Room, which celebrated its grand opening on September 25, the store’s third anniversary.
Morse describes The War Room in detail: “We just renovated an entire new room for the store that is, like, a little coffee shop and library nook…We’ve put all our Christian Literature in there, so that our community will have a source for that. Even the coffee we carry, My Brother’s Cup coffee, all the proceeds go to help rescue women from sex trafficking.”
Shown above is the prayer wall, where customers and employees can post their prayers. Every day Morse and her employees take down these prayers and pray over them. Photo courtesy of Rachel Morse.
Community impact
When asked about The Olive Press's impact on the community and the body of Christ, Morse stated, “I guess the first thing that comes to my mind is The War Room. I have been so overwhelmed with the reaction to that. We’ve had people come in here and just spend hours that just want to be in there. We’ve got a prayer wall, and we are pulling prayers down every day. We’re praying over them, and the community knows that.”
The Olive Press also offers a Christian environment for its surrounding community. Morse said, “I’ve had so many people tell me that they can just feel it when they walk in here, and it makes me want to cry because that’s what I want. I want the Lord to be present…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve overheard my employee that works out front, stopping and praying over a customer.”
Rachel Morse talks miracles and future plans
Morse talked about the miracles she’s seen while owning The Olive Press, from family restoration, reuniting children with parents, women getting their licenses and even a $10,000 anonymous donation to pay off fines.
Outreach is Morse's next area of development. She stated, “Something we want to implement in the next year is how can each one of our wholesale orders that goes out spread the Gospel.”
Morse is developing a website to tell their story and spread the Gospel. She is also going to implement QR codes on all her products, so that customers can scan them and learn about Jesus.
How can you get involved?
When asked how readers could help support her mission, Morse responded that the first step is prayer and the second is shopping at The Olive Press, either through their Etsy shop or at their brick-and-mortar site.
Morse said, “Their purchase really does have a purpose here, whether it’s just providing a job opportunity for the women that work here or supporting these other companies that are giving percentages of their funds to missions.” The store also accepts donations to help support the financial needs of employees, like dental work or fines.
Planting a seed
Morse’s effort and determination model how God can use people exactly where they are. Christians’ natural gifts are directly tied to their purpose. Channeling those gifts and giving God dominion over them can make an extraordinary difference in His Kingdom.
Morse is a shining example of how everyone has a unique place in God’s Kingdom. There are communities with needs like Morse’s all over the country. Hopefully, Morse’s story will inspire readers to help her cause and take action in their own communities.
Laurie is a journalist from Norton, Virginia. She graduated from Liberty University in 2023 with a degree in English and Writing. She is currently attending graduate school at Regent University to pursue a master’s in Journalism. Laurie has a strong desire to align her career with her purpose in God’s Kingdom, which brought her to this publication. Her writing reflects her desire to share truth and to help shape lives in a positive manner.
