McMINNVILLE — “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”
These verses from Matthew 25:35-36 inspired John and Jennifer Hines to establish Matthew 25 Ministries (M25) in January 2022 and to serve their community in Warren County exactly in that way. They asked pastor Gannon Richesin, who now serves at Three Rivers Baptist Church, to lead as their director.
“We firmly believe that the mission that shines the furthest out, must shine brightest at home,” said Richesin.
The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focuses on addressing six core areas of need identified in the biblical passage: hunger, thirst, clothing, loneliness, sickness, and imprisonment.
“As a ministry we long to serve people like Jesus would have served them,” explains Richesin. “It was birthed out of a desire to see the unchurched in our community have a bridge between where they were and the local church. Whether that be homelessness, or addiction, or low-income, single-parent families, but basically just want to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Warren County.”
They started door-to-door, knocking on more than 1,600 homes to identify community needs.
“One of the more important questions we ask is if God could do a miracle, what would they ask Him to do?” Richesin said.
The responses were heart-wrenching. But in just over three years, M25 has made a significant impact on Warren County to ease both the physical and spiritual hunger felt by the families.
“Our county is a very poor, rural county, and so we have a lot of hungry children, a lot of hungry families. Realizing that, we started a weekly meal in March of 2022,” Richesin explained.
By August 2025, they will have served more than 10,000 meals through their weekly “Community Table” program.
“While they’re eating, we do a devotion or a short message, and then afterwards we do a time of prayer request and praise reports,” said Richesin. “Our goal in that was just to give people a chance to be heard, but also an opportunity for us to pray with people.”
Beyond statistics, M25’s most meaningful impact comes through individual stories of transformation. The ministry has helped a woman who was found unresponsive from an overdose find full-time employment; assisted a suicidal young man in receiving treatment at the VA in Murfreesboro; and responded to countless calls from community members with nowhere else to turn.
One of the most powerful moments Richesin recalls is when they had the opportunity to buy 88 mattresses for children’s beds across multiple households. In the state of Tennessee, it’s required families provide at least one bed per child in the household.
“Stuff like that, we often take for granted, but to these families and to these children, it was a massive deal,” said Richesin. “They don’t have to fear that their children were going to be removed from the home. And for the first time, many of these children had their own bed, their own pillow, their own sheets — just a space that they could call theirs.”
They also serve as advocates in the court system, character witnesses, and testify for those who changed their lives around, such as one man who was facing a 10 to 25-year prison sentence for making a violent threat.
“And the judge dropped it to where he had to do two years of unsupervised probation. He didn’t have to serve any jail time just because of somebody believing in him,” Richesin said. “He was 62 years old, and he firmly believed he was going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. But he got to see not only his spiritual life set free but also get a second chance at life in his senior age.
“Ultimately, it’s the people. It’s the life change. It’s the transformation. It’s the hope that has been found,” says Richesin.
Since its founding, 62 people have also entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ through the ministry’s outreach efforts, while 43 have been baptized.
“A lot of the folks that we come into contact with have been hurt by somebody in the church or have a negative experience with religion,” said Richesin. “We strive very intentionally to address the spiritual need because we believe the greatest need that any man or woman has is that their sin need be addressed. So by building relationships, the gospel conversations are much easier for us.”
With about 40 volunteers on a regular basis, M25 also provides emergency hotel accommodations, distribute tents to homeless individuals, stock clothing closets in local schools, and supply children with school supplies.
Richesin said one the questions they get asked the most is, “Why do you treat me like this?” Or, “Why do you love me?” But Richesin said it’s an easy answer: because we’ve been loved by God and because of that, we want to share that.
Simply put, they’re goal is S.E.R.V.E.: See. Engage. Relate. Value. Equip.
“I believe, Matthew 25 has been consistent over these last three years. We go back to these apartment complexes; we follow up with the needs that we hear of,” said Richesin. “I think love experienced means a lot more than just love heard.”
Those interested in supporting Matthew 25 Ministries can make donations at m25mcminnville.com/giving. B&R