Woman’s Church ‘Baby Formula Test’ Goes Viral, Exposing Compassion Gap
A Kentucky woman who was turned down by dozens of churches of various denominations and sizes in the Bible Belt in donating formula to her hungry baby has created a TikTok sensation.
Fortunately, a few said yes.
Nikalie Monroe, a drug addiction counselor from the Appalachian town of Somerset, Kentucky, called 43 churches and temples to “test” them in what are now viral Tiktok videos. Monroe told a fictitious story that her nonexistent baby hadn’t eaten since the night before and she couldn’t afford any more formula.
Using an audio of a crying baby in the background, she would add that she’d tried calling other nonprofits and food banks, but they were out and recommended she call churches.
Some churches said she’d have to be a member for them to help. Several suggested other community centers or churches, mentioning that they outsource caring for the needy to other nonprofits. Others simply said they didn’t have any. When she asked if they could just provide a $20 can for her, they said they couldn’t.
She called Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch Lakewood Church, one of the largest in the nation, with a recent estimated net worth of $59 million. The woman who answered said Monroe could apply to their benevolence ministry, but it could take a couple days to a couple weeks for approval.
When Monroe called Dream City Church, the Arizona megachurch that late conservative activist Charlie Kirk attended, the church sent her to a voicemail.
“It’s really disheartening,” Monroe said after calling Dream City. “This is the stuff people go through when they need help.”
The Roys Report (TRR) called Lakewood but couldn’t reach a live person and TRR used the online contact form for Dream City Church for comment but didn’t hear back.
But 10 of the 43 offered to help, including a mosque, a Buddhist temple, an African American church, a Hispanic church, and a tiny Appalachian church. Johnny Dunbar, a 69-year-old great grandfather and pastor of the latter — Heritage Hope Church of God in Somerset, Kentucky —offered to go out and buy the formula himself.
“We can do this,” Dunbar said to Monroe. “Tell me what it’s called in case I have to go get it because I’m a great grandpapa. . . Any flavor?”
After Dunbar’s offer to help, Monroe revealed she didn’t really have a newborn.
“You just touched my heart,” she told Dunbar. “I just want you to know that you are an amazing person.”
His heartwarming kindness gained millions of views, his new TikTok nickname “Appalachian Pawpaw,” and $95,000 in donations.
“This is everyone’s grandpa and I’m Muslim,” wrote a commenter named Lubna IQ.
‘I want to be proven wrong’
A recent study indicated that the steady decline of church attendance is partially due to the church’s failure to love well, TRR previously reported.
Monroe started her “social experiment” on Oct. 31 for her only 300 TikTok followers on the eve of the suspension of benefits from the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She said she wanted to make sure that if people reach out to churches that donors’ money is going to help people.
Monroe described herself “liberal, tattooed lesbian” who used to be a stripper, was a teenage mom, and doesn’t go to church. But this Army veteran told listeners she’s also getting her master’s in counseling and is trying to start up more sober living houses in her community.
Monroe, now with 430,000 followers and almost 5 million “likes,” said she had low expectations of churches’ responses. She said she’d hoped that pro-life churches would be ready to help a hungry baby.
“My personal beliefs … is that they’re not going to want to help anybody that doesn’t specifically want to go to their church,” she said. “I want to be proven wrong.”
She started with churches of various types, sizes, and denominations—including Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, and Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wards near her in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. But soon she branched out, making calls to Denver, Phoenix, Kansas City, South Carolina, Idaho and Chicago.
Many churches she called suggested she contact other nonprofits or government services. But, as part of her test, she would tell them she’d already tried all those, but they were out of supplies. While many churches floundered with whether they could help, she usually gave the churches several chances, reminding them of her baby.
In response to the churches that didn’t find a way to help, commenters questioned why churches didn’t have even $20 and a few minutes to go to a nearby grocery store to purchase formula.
The 13,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, a city recently rocked with various church scandals, was one of those churches who didn’t help. The woman who picked up the call said the church didn’t have any “programs” to help. When Monroe revealed her experiment, Monroe asked if the church is pro-life. The woman hung up without answering.
In response, a someone called Christabel commented, “My husband said, ‘This is called the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ test. . . and you FAILED.”
First Baptist Church of Dallas sent TRR a statement that said, in part, that they gave Monroe information about resources and that they believed the call was “suspect.”
Monroe also branched out to other religions, calling the Islamic Center of Charlotte. The man on the line immediately offered to help.
“What kind of formula do you need?” the man asked.
A woman at Our Lady of the Hills Catholic Church, a Hispanic church in Columbia, South Carolina, said Monroe could come to their food pantry the next day. But then Monroe reminded her that her baby hadn’t eaten all day.
“Just come,” the woman said. “If they don’t have baby food, I’ll give you $10 from my pocket.”
A commenter named iahlamsafi on Tiktok praised the churches who said yes. “The fact that two Black churches, a mosque, and a small rural church were the first to say yes without hesitation, while big-name mega-influential churches like Joel Osteen’s and (Dream City Church) said no says everything we need to know. It’s always the marginalized communities that know struggle who show up first.”
A work of the devil or a God-given opportunity?
After Monroe’s posts went viral, some of the churches she called responded — but not well. Bishop Raymond Johnson, of Baton Rouge’s Living Faith Christian Church, called Monroe a “witch” who did a “dirty deed” in his Sunday sermon.
“I pray that you be delivered, that the devil will no longer have total control of you,” Johnson said.
Monroe said she didn’t want her experiment to cause division or judgment, but rather reform and connection.
“I want to bring positivity and change,” she said. “That’s what we need.”
Dunbar, the “Appalachian pawpaw” said he believes God “orchestrated” his conversation with Monroe.
“In this, God has given the church an opportunity, a platform that we can touch the world,” Dunbar said. “And this has caused the world to put finances in our hands.”
Monroe attended Dunbar’s church last Sunday and interviewed him in person on Tiktok. He said the positive responses he’s gotten from people all over the world has been “overwhelming.” He said he believes God gave him the words to talk to Monroe, calling it a “$17 yes.”
“Instead of messing up like I generally do, maybe I got it right,” he said.
But he acknowledged how often the church gets it wrong.
“The world doesn’t trust the church,” he said on TikTok. “They think we’re irrelevant. They really don’t think we care.”
Because the church has surrendered its sacred responsibility to care for its community, hungry babies have “become political pawns on the political chess board.”
He said he hopes this situation restores trust in the church. But at least, his church will be able to feed his community turkey for Thanksgiving.
“I pray nobody goes to bed hungry tonight, nobody goes to bed cold,”” said Dunbar. “Use this for your glory, God.”
This article was originally published by The Roys Report.
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.