Would *YOUR* Church Help a Mother In Need?

If this social media experiment is to be believed, the odds are, sadly,  "No, they wouldn't."

A woman in Kentucky has gone viral online after posting a series of videos where she asks churches if they will help to feed a starving baby. The results have shocked social-media users, and the videos have amassed views by the million.

Nikalie Monroe, who describes herself on TikTok as a left-wing Army veteran and a lesbian, has been filming the series as a social experiment—the “starving baby” she refers to is not real. Monroe does not have a child; instead, she uses the scenario to test how churches respond to pleas for help.

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About 35.9 million in Americans were living below the poverty line in 2024, according to data from Statista.

Poverty, and in particular food insecurity, has been prominent in the headlines in recent weeks due to significant disruptions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. SNAP supports roughly 42 million Americans.

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As of reporting, Monroe has posted 42 videos to TikTok, where she calls churches and asks them for help in feeding a starving baby. Monroe is calling churches in states all around the country.

As of the 42nd video, nine churches have said that they will help, and 33 have said no.

The videos are all relatively similar in format. The most recent video opens with Monroe saying, “I’m calling your church to see if they would help feed a starving baby.” Monroe then follows with the name of the church she is calling, which is different each time.

In the videos, Monroe plays the role of a struggling mother, asking for a small can of baby formula as part of the test. The sound effect of a baby crying can be heard in the video.

On the occasions when the church has been able to help, Monroe tells whichever church she is speaking to that the call was part of her social experiment.

In one video, Monroe says, “I’m not even a church, and if somebody called me needing to feed a baby, I wouldn’t just hang up the phone, I would find them a resource and get them formula for their baby.”

And for the churches that are offering to help, there has been a significant positive response.

A post on X from the account @lydiakauppi, which has been viewed 1.6 million times, detailed that one of the churches that offered to help Monroe has been flooded with donations.

“Heritage Hope Church of God has since received over $75,000 to their food pantry. The congregation says he’s been crying all week,” Kauppi’s post read.

Monroe encouraged viewers to leave positive reviews in one of her videos. “I know that a lot of you want to leave negative reviews and, you know, look at religion in a poor light right now, but instead of doing that, I would much rather people start leaving five-star reviews with suggestions on what can be done to fix it,” she said.

I shouldn't have to even go into what the Bible says about feeding the poor, or even George W Bush's push for faith-based initiatives. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ or even just a semi-regular church-goer, you should know that "helping those in need" is built into the church's DNA.