TESTIMONIALS

“Eli Akin is greatly loved in our church. It’s a privilege to be his pastor. Eli and his family minister out of a passion to serve. He pours himself into service and simply loves the gospel and the church. He’s a talented leader and really easy to connect with demonstrating humility and prayer. His passion for barbecue is an extra string to his bow and it means that the whole experience is outstanding. I cannot recommend him more highly.”

Rhys Stenner
Senior Pastor New Hope Baptist Church
One church in three locations.

“I have never had bbq that is better than M25’s. I mean it. Eli is a magician when it comes to the meats and meals they serve and Whitney obviously has the gift of hospitality. The real kicker with M25 is that they serve all their food for free.

As the pastor of the Atlanta Dream Center, partnering with their ministry has advanced our outreaches in multiple ways. Not only have we been able to serve those in homelessness and low income housing with delicious food for free, but we have seen new doors of outreach opportunity open. We have been able to serve neighborhoods in ways we never thought we could and see new doors open to the gospel.

Lastly, working with M25 is a breeze. They are professional, laid back, and very accommodating. I highly recommend this ministry to everyone. If you are doing an event, an outreach, or looking to give to a non-profit doing something amazing, M25 Barbecue should be your choice!”

Tommy Palmer
Senior Pastor
Atlanta Dream Center Church.

“We have worked with Eli Akin and M25 Barbecue on several ministry projects now and I would highly recommend them. They have been wonderful in every area including quality of food, friendliness, and commitment to excellence in ministering to others. We plan to use them for other ministry projects in the future. It has been a joy to work with them.”

Mark Ward
Minister of Education
Flat Creek Baptist Church

“We had the privilege of partnering with M25 ministry this past spring. The experience was amazing! Because of M25 ministries, we were able to reach out to our local community with the love of Christ, as well as, engage all ages and spiritual maturity levels of our church family in a hands on ministry opportunity. Eli and his wife have an incredible heart for people and the Lord and I promise any church will be blessed beyond measure if they partner with them.”

Tim Conort
Senior Pastor of Union Baptist Church, Griffin Ga.

“A Better Way Ministries HIGHLY recommends M25 Barbecue! They did such a wonderful job providing the best BBQ ever served at our ministry. The students, staff and attendees from the local community want to say THANK YOU for making our Sunday dinner one we will always remember! God Bless!”

Doug Campbell
Program Director
A Better Way Ministries

“From the first moment I spoke to Eli, I knew he had a true heart for ministry. M25 is such an invaluable, God-ordained resource for churches and nonprofits. At Crosswalk, whether in ARTreach 180 or juvenile detention centers, we know how something as simple as food can help break down barriers in such a non-threatening way. Many of our youth don’t receive regular meals at home, and anyway that we can meet their social-emotional as well as physical needs for us is a win-win. M25 provided food for our Family Mealtime. They are kind, gracious, and efficient, serving two campuses in one day. And to top it off, the barbecue is AMAZING! They looked forward to it and still talk about how good the food was and how grateful they were to Eli and his family for serving them in that powerful way.”

Donise Mathis - Executive Director 
Crosswalk Ministries USA, Inc.

“My wife and I have joined M25 Barbecue for two outreaches. We thoroughly enjoyed the experiences and are looking forward to doing it more. As a former pastor, I appreciate Eli’s and Whitney’s commitment to working with local churches. The strategy of returning to the same community three times allows opportunities for the church to build stronger links with the residents. And M25 is truly a gospel-driven ministry. They design the outreach to go and feed the hungry in the name of Jesus, while looking for opportunities to meet people’s spiritual needs. This can range from giving kind words to discouraged souls, to praying for various physical and emotional needs, to telling the good news about our Savior. Eli doesn’t just send out the workers. He goes with them, taking orders, delivering orders, engaging people in conversations that lead to praying for them and even sharing the gospel with them. I can highly recommend a church partnering with Eli and Whitney Akin and M25 Barbecue.”

Rev. Terre Haas
Pastoral Ministries Director
Operation Mobilization USA, Tyrone, GA

“M25 Barbecue is a powerful outreach ministry for churches to partner with to reach their communities with the Gospel. Several churches in the Southside Baptist Network have partnered with them, with great success. I highly recommend this ministry.”

Dr. Ray Gentry
Associational Mission Strategist
Southside Baptist Network, McDonough, GA

“Eli Akin has a heart and passion for the Lord, for people and for great BBQ! M25 Barbecue is focused on all three. It was incredible to see how God used M25 in our community to break down walls so that the Gospel could be shared and how it built unity among churches. So thankful for M25 and highly recommend them for your next community outreach event! You won’t regret it!”

Craig McAdams
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church, Hampton GA

“I highly recommend the ministry of M25 Barbecue and Eli Akin and his family. They are true servants of God, doing what they can to reach people for Christ and aid the church. It is a joy to work with them.”

Stan Jordan
Senior Pastor
North Henry Baptist Church

“Partnering with M25 was a great introduction to community ministry for our church. It was also a great introduction of our church to the community, and a springboard to discover more opportunities to serve and build on the relationships we started.

Eli and Whitney were fully dedicated to leading the way. Their heart for ministry was contagious and the barbecue was delicious! We are excited about the days ahead and we already have M25 scheduled for spring of 2023, where we will meet another community to love on!”

Barry Dollar
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church, Riverdale GA

“I just want to say what a pleasure and an honor it was to work along side of Eli, his wife and M25 Barbecue. I truly felt as if the Lord had placed our church with this wonderful ministry to offer love and prayer to people. We were able to bring the love of God to people where they needed it along with a wonderful meal. This is a ministry of love and you can see it in what this beautiful family is doing. Thank you for what you do!”

Ann Mulkey - Volunteer

“We were so blessed to partner with M25 to offer BBQ and prayer, door to door, in a lower income community in our area that we have been seeking to build relational bridges to. It's given us great opportunity to show, tell, and demonstrate the gospel - giving free BBQ as an example of God’s free gift of salvation. M25 was a great catalyst for us to connect to our community in this practical way. While we did have several people come to faith in Christ through the events, months later, we have been continuing to see the positive results from the relational bridges built from this outreach. Partnering with M25 has enabled us to reach out in tangible, high quality ways to show the free grace of Jesus in practical ways.”

Andrew Pasedag
Senior Pastor - Tanners Baptist Church