TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A local restaurant in the heart of Terre Haute is more than just a place to eat BBQ; its business endeavor goes much deeper through the power of prayer.
Butta’s Better BBQ is owned and operated by Rodney and Catherine Hill. It’s where the Hills’ love for food and faith meet.
Rodney Hill’s passion for barbecue started over 35 years ago. The journey started by selling his barbecue as a way to fund an entire season for his kids and their teammates to play AAU basketball but it didn’t stop there.
“After the season was over a lot of people were calling us saying, ‘Hey, when are you going to start back the BBQ?’ And it just really took off,” Rodney Hill said. “So, we got the food truck, that took off, we got the restaurant, and here we are.”
While Butta’s Better BBQ might be known for its signature dishes, like the ‘porkalious wrap‘, the business has become a platform for giving back.
Catherine Hill, who shares the restaurant’s vision with her husband, saw the need to integrate their faith into the business.
“It was an idea that just always popped up in my mind, I thought we should do, because prayer works, I mean, we know because we’ve experienced it,” Catherine said. “It’s something I always wanted to do. And then I was at a place who had actual prayer cards and I felt like that was like a God moment for me to say ‘yes, you need to move forward with this,'” she added.
The Hills placed a prayer box in the restaurant where customers could leave their prayer requests. The Hills personally pray over each request. Catherine said some people were surprised when she reached out.
“We sincerely care and we were being true to our word, it wasn’t just lip service. We actually put action into what we said we were going to do. We prayed for them, and they left their number and we followed up. I think that meant the world to them,” she said.
But for the Hills, this act of kindness and prayer is rooted deeply in their personal experience with loss. In 2011, the couple lost their adult son, Rodney Jr in a house fire. His death was devastating, but through the power of prayer, the Hills found strength.
“His nickname was ‘Butta,’ Rodney said. “Everyone knew him as Butta. His high school, all his friends here in Terre Haute knew him as Butta, so we just wanted to do something to keep his name alive and keep his name going.”
“Because he touched so many lives,” Catherine said. “More lives than I ever even thought about. When we had his service, there were so many people that showed up, that I had no idea. Friends would tell me that your son was a true example of what love is.”
As much as the Hills feel their son’s spirit in their daily lives, they also feel the profound importance of continuing to pray for others who are suffering.
“Prayer has happened right here with individuals who have come in and they have a need and we’ve prayed right here with them. We prayed at church for them, we pray at home, wherever we’re led to pray, we prayed,” Catherine said.
The Hills are committed to lifting others up — through their food but also through their prayers.
“That’s what we’re about: helping others and giving back. And the process of serving good home cook soul food,” Rodney said.
It’s a simple box, but it holds so much more than prayer requests. At Butta’s Better BBQ, each prayer is a promise—a promise of hope, care, and a family that knows what it’s like to lean on faith in the toughest times.
It’s clear that for the Hills, Butta’s Better BBQ is more than just a restaurant. It’s a true testament to the power of faith amid hardship.
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