Truly doing the Lord’s work.
The ongoing government shutdown has created a crisis for many families who depend on SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to feed themselves and their children. And look, I don’t care which side of the aisle you’re on, and I don’t pretend to know the solution to reopening the government (I would say I’ll leave that to people smarter than me, but that might be giving our government officials too much credit), but I do know that children going hungry is never acceptable in the greatest country on earth.
Well with SNAP running out at the end of October, one TikTok user decided to put churches to the test to see which ones would actually help a child in need.
The woman named Nikalie has called several churches around the country, even taking suggestions on which churches to test from curious congregation members. And so far, the results have been disappointing: After calling 43 churches, she received 33 yeses while being turned down by 33, including Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Baptist Church in Houston, which instructed her to fill out an application for assistance instead of offering to buy baby formula. (A commenter pointed out that she could probably call Mattress Mack in Houston and he would have an entire palette of formula waiting on her).
But one church’s response in particular has gone viral after the pastor’s heartwarming response.
Nikalie called the Heritage Hope Church of God in Somerset, Kentucky, and spoke to Pastor Johnny Dunbar. And in the video, which has quickly racked up 4 million views, the only question Dunbar asked was whether there was a specific flavor of formula he should get.
@nikalie.monroe Sorry people kept calling in and knocking my recording off and it was also a really long call. But this is Heritage Hope Church of God. Such a sweet soul this guy and the fact he was willing to even go get it himself made my heart melt. Loved it. 😍 #fypage #foryou #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #foryoupage #viral #viralvideo #trending #capcut #duet #wethepeople #forthepeople #wakeupamerica #worldtok #worldnews #veteran #church #churches #familiesinneed #experiment #God #religion
Well the video quickly went viral, and resulted in a flood of donations to the small church in the heart of Appalachia. As many pointed out in the comments, the church is located in one of the poorest areas of the country, where many need help themselves, and was still willing to help someone in need with no questions asked (other than the baby’s taste buds).
And this past weekend, Nikalie decided to attend the church in person, where the pastor broke down in tears as he spoke about the now-viral interaction while revealing to the congregation that they have already received nearly $95,000 in donations thanks to his Christ-like response:
“Why? This is what we’re supposed to do. This is what He tells us, He says, ‘Don’t look for the praise of men,’ and we’re getting it. If you told me, you know, that $95,000 would fall in my church, my church that we take in about $22-23,000 a month, if you told me that $95,000 would flow in in six or seven days, I’d have said, ‘You’re crazy.’ Boy, if it did, I’d be shouting …
Why? Why is it strange? Why is it noticeable that the church did the right thing?”
@breedavis160 he said why is it not normal for a church buy formula for a starving baby? he’s one of the only ones who said yes he would! what flavor of formula? 😂
The internet has fallen in love with their new “Appalachian papaw,” so I imagine that the donations will continue to flow in from people who know that their money is truly going to serve the community and those in need.
Funny how that works, right? But as a Christian myself, I would be proud to attend this man’s church.
