The Lakewood International Center in Houston has issued a response following a viral TikTok in which a creator called the church as part of her “Testing Your Church” series.
TikTok user Nikalie has been testing churches with one question: “Would they help a starving baby?”
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In a recent video, she called Lakewood Church, adding a crying baby sound to simulate an emergency. A staff member said the church’s benevolence ministry could take her information, but approval could take days or weeks.
FIRST REPORT: ‘Testing your church’: TikTok creator calls Lakewood Church in Houston to ask for baby formula
While the church did not respond directly to KPRC 2 News, a spokesperson spoke to the Houston Chronicle.
Donald Iloff, Lakewood Church spokesperson, said the church supports 21 crisis pregnancy centers across Greater Houston and 16 food pantries that carry infant formula, though the church itself does not provide formula directly. He added that the phone operator “made an error” by not sharing that information during Nikalie’s call.
“We have no problem with the fake baby lady conducting her telephone experiment,” Iloff said. “She has every right to do so.”
The video has sparked a range of responses from viewers on social media. Some commenters praised the church’s work with local pantries and crisis pregnancy centers, while others criticized the delay in getting assistance.
The conversation has been lively, with viewers sharing their thoughts and experiences. Here’s a sampling of what people are saying online:
- “Mattress Mack would have said yes.”
- “The fact that she called dozens of churches and only a handful of tiny churches helped her says a lot. A whole lot.
- There are thousands of local church’s that help others without hesitation."
- “I’ve seen the associate pastor of Lakewood reach into his pocket dozens of times to buy groceries for people who needed food. The current assistant pastor was telling last month about Dodie handing him $2,000 worth of gift cards and telling him to go bless people with them.”
- “I mean, churches are businesses so I don’t really hold it against them for protecting their funds. I do however hold it against the individuals that answer the phone and don’t either offer help themselves or get them help by other means.”
- “These were the saddest videos to watch. The baby crying was heart wrenching. I know it’s fake. But still sad that she was turned away from quite a few churches.”
- “It’s a Mega Church. What do you expect you need to go to the smaller churches to see if they can help.”