00:00Can we help with what? Baby formula. What do you mean a baby formula? Yeah, I have a. You want somebody to give you some money or something? No, I just need the formula. I have a two month old and she ran out last night. So she's went all night and all day without formula. Yeah, we don't have any formula here for not baby.
00:19If you're religious, would your church help a starving baby? It's a question one woman, Nicali Monroe, has been testing by calling churches across the country, pretending to be a mom who ran out of baby formula for a starving two month old.
00:35A series of phone calls has shocked many people and sparked national debate, mainly because many people in Monroe's comments and on other social media forums expect churches to help anyone in need.
00:51But Monroe said it's revealing a much bigger gap, not just in religious communities, but everyone as a whole.
00:58And then at first I didn't have like the baby crying in the background. Somebody along the way had commented it in the comments and then I started adding the baby.
01:07For your baby? Yes. Yeah, she's two months old.
01:13Out of all of her calls, Monroe received nine yeses. Even without a food pantry, some churches still offer to find a way to get formula to her.
01:23I'm like 10 minutes away.
01:25Okay, and what formula does your baby use?
01:28But she also received 33 no's. Some churches offered other numbers or resources. Others didn't offer anything at all.
01:37We have a benevolence program, but it is for our members.
01:41It's just for the members because like I have a two month old and she hasn't ate like since last night.
01:46So she's gone all night and all day without any formula. Like I don't need money or anything.
01:50I just need like a small little can and I've been calling everywhere and they're just telling me call churches and I just don't know what else to do.
01:56Some calls even turned political.
01:59We're included in that, not because we want to be, but we've been struggling with a whole bunch of things since the Joe Bamo Biden regime took over.
02:07In my mind, this is a fake baby, but in my mind, if somebody would have called with a real baby, that baby would be starving.
02:13Monroe even called the church Charlie Kirk once attended. They told her no.
02:17Online, people pointed out hypocrisy in churches. Just days earlier, that same church posted, quote,
02:24It's the job of the church, not the government, to take care of poor people.
02:29Their Instagram bio also reads, Outreach for the hungry, homeless and helpless.
02:34When asked what moment stood out to her the most, being hung up on twice, I was like, I couldn't believe it.
02:43While reviews of the experiment are mixed, there are a few points that need clarifying.
02:48Some people called Monroe an influencer, but she only started posting these videos in early November and just posted them for fun.
02:56In a little over one week, her follower count jumped from about 300 to more than 400,000.
03:03Her reason for starting this experiment came from her real job.
03:07I am a drug addiction counselor, so I actually have a lot of patients that are homeless currently.
03:12And I refer a lot of them to go to churches and, you know, a lot of these resource places that are referred to us to give to them.
03:20And a lot of them come back with nothing, like they don't get the help that they need.
03:25Some also accused her of trying to steal money, but she said that was never the case.
03:32I was just calling up churches locally here first to see which churches would, like, offer to help provide just a small can of formula.
03:41I wasn't asking for money. I was like, if you get it, I can come pick it up.
03:44Like, I was making it so easy.
03:46Because of how viral the video series has become, some of the churches she called are starting to respond, including Living Faith Christian Center.
03:55We don't have any formula around, darling. I'm sorry. None. No diapers, anything for babies.
04:02We don't have any.
04:03Could that be something you all could get and I could just pick it up?
04:07Uh, no, we can't right now. I'm sorry.
04:11On Sunday, Bishop Raymond Johnson referred to Monroe as, quote, low and evil.
04:16How you gonna do your little dirty deed and, you know, it's just the spirit of a witch.
04:28It's a witch.
04:29And my Bible says he do not allow that thing to live.
04:35The sermon has since been removed from the church's YouTube channel.
04:39We reached out to Living Faith Christian Center and did not receive a response.
04:44We also contacted multiple other churches.
04:47Some lines were disconnected or not in service.
04:50Other critics of the experiment say not all churches have the means for food pantries or benevolence funds since they do rely on donations.
04:59And that's true.
05:01Most churches are 501c3 organizations.
05:04And based on the information we could find, less than half the churches Monroe called are affiliated with a food pantry.
05:11Still, some churches with pantries didn't offer any other help.
05:15Another big talking point is the Church of Latter-day Saints.
05:20Monroe called two LDS churches, and many online commenters said those churches typically only help members.
05:27We tried calling both locations, Monroe called, but both lines were no longer in service.
05:33Monroe said people were calling churches and leaving hate messages, something she never wanted.
05:38I know I can't control people's responses, but I don't feel like spreading more hate is the answer.
05:46Another church responded publicly.
05:48Someone who saw Monroe's video went to their service and recorded this.
05:52We've come to expect this kind of thing from radical, woke, unbelieving trolls who wish to dispare the gospel and God's church.
06:02The irony of a pro-abortionist making that call is funny.
06:09And another pastor, not from a church Monroe called, also spoke out and is getting backlash.
06:16He posted this on a now private TikTok.
06:19Churches, they are not obligated.
06:22We hope that they're going to be able to be philanthropic and donate into their community.
06:28That same pastor also talked about scams church's face, something Monroe says she understands but disagrees with.
06:36There's a lot of fear.
06:37Somebody's going to scam me.
06:38Somebody's going to scam me.
06:39Look, even when we're dating, and I was just talking to another church that had said yes,
06:44but even when we're in relationships and we have a bad experience, we don't go into the next one with that baggage.
06:49I feel like that should apply with people that are in need.
06:52Monroe said she understands the controversy and hopes this experiment leads to something positive.
06:58Like the few churches who originally said no, but responded saying the experiment was humbling for them.
07:04Monroe said she has another social experiment planned, one not involving churches, but she wants one message to be clear.
07:13Out of all of it, there's a gap that needs to be fixed.
07:16Like, there really is.
07:17And it's not even just on the church.
07:19It's on everybody, like even the community, because I feel like we don't even do our job to make sure that these pantries have baby formula or the needs that other people need.
07:27For more on this story and others, head over to san.com or download our mobile app.
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