A TikToker has raised fresh questions about how churches live out Jesus’ command to feed the hungry after posing as a mother in need.
Nikalie Monroe, from Kentucky, called more than 30 megachurches across the United States pretending to be a mother unable to afford baby formula. Her social media series—viewed millions of times—tests how churches respond when faced with a plea to “feed a starving baby.”
Monroe said the experiment was designed to “put Bible parables about feeding the hungry and caring for the poor to the test.” The videos have sparked sharp debate online.
Out of more than 40 calls, only nine churches offered help; 33 declined. Monroe used several tactics across the calls, including playing fake baby cries in the background to see if that would increase the likelihood of receiving assistance.
Among those that said no was Houston’s Lakewood Church, led by pastor Joel Osteen. In Monroe’s video, a Lakewood staff member told her that such requests must go through a “benevolence ministry” and could take “a few days or weeks” for approval.
After hanging up, Monroe told followers she was shocked that a church with “millions in net assets” could not immediately assist a mother in need.
One commenter wrote: “What kind of approval process is there to feed starving babies?”
According to Lakewood Church’s 2017 financial report, the church held $59 million in net assets.
Monroe insists her goal is not to shame churches but to highlight how faith communities respond to real-world need.
“I’m not even a church,” she told her 40,000 followers, “and if somebody called me needing to feed a baby, I wouldn’t just hang up the phone.”
Her videos come as millions of Americans face delays in SNAP food benefits due to a government shutdown.
Lakewood Church has since responded to the viral video, telling The Houston Chronicle that “the call operator made an error” by not informing the caller that the church supports 21 pregnancy centers across Greater Houston and 16 food pantries that carry infant formula.
The church added that it does not directly distribute formula but said the woman behind the TikTok series “has every right to do so.”