The story of six-year-old TikTok sensation ‘Along Came Abby’

Abby’s social media platform, Along Came Abby, started in 2020 when she was four years old. Since then she has amassed a following of 3.9 million on TikTok and just under 400K on Instagram. I first came across Abby while scrolling through Instagram one day at the beginning of 2022. I saw a video of a sweet little girl wearing bright pyjamas and sitting cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed: 

Her mum asks: “What are you doing?” 

“Oh, I was meditating,” Abby responds, looking up nonchalantly.

“And what does that mean?” her mother asks.

“It means sometimes you are listening to God’s words, and sometimes you are thinking of a master plan….guess what I was thinking of?” Abby says, standing up.

“I don’t know,” her mother replies

“A master plan,” Abby replies, deadpan.

I laughed out loud! While I admit the humour may not translate as well in print, I felt Abby, at five years old, was reminiscent of American comedian and actor Owen Wilson. I went on to watch other videos, and she kept me laughing.

So I started following ‘Along Came Abby’ on Instagram, and it was not long before I realised the US-based family were Christians. I had a zoom call with Abby’s English mother, Lissa Terry, to find out more…

Tell us more about your background

My husband and I met at Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Nuneaton. He had travelled to the UK from America to attend the School of Biblical Studies, and I was doing the discipleship school. We started talking because we were both reading a book called The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.

I was telling my friends that they all need to read this book, and they told me that there was this guy called Andrew Terry who was telling everyone about the book too. So we started talking to each other because of that little book. We started speaking in November 1994, and Andrew and I were married by April 1995.

We ended up having six children. Our oldest is Noah, is 26, then we have Sam, who is in YWAM in Switzerland, he’s 25. Then Phoebe is 22, Micah is 20 and Seth is 16. And then there’s Abby who has just turned six. 

There is quite a gap between Seth and Abby – was she a surprise?

Yes! About eight years ago I became a flight attendant, after being a stay-at-home mum for many years. I was doing that for a couple of years, and then it was such a surprise when I got pregnant with Abby. When I first got pregnant, I was really fearful. I told my best friend, and she was so encouraging. I was crying, saying: “I just don’t think I can do this.” And she said: “No, it’s God’s timing, he’s going to provide for you. Don’t worry.” She encouraged me at the time I needed it. I was really prayerful for the whole pregnancy because I was so fearful. I kept thinking: “You can’t do this.” I was insecure about my parenting. I felt at the time I was hardly coping with five.

I had a baby shower and somebody gave me this plaque that said: “For such a time as this.” I knew it was the Lord. I knew he was saying: “You can do this, this is my timing.” It just meant so much to me. Right after Abby was born, I took her to the paediatrician. My paediatrician is a Christian, and his wife was there. She said: “Let me pray for Abby.” She held Abby and began her prayer with: “For such a time as this.” 

How did you start Along Came Abby?

In 2020 my oldest, Noah, lost his job in marketing due to COVID and came to live at home again. Noah kept saying how funny Abby was and that we should post her on TikTok. At that time, my husband and I didn’t really know what TikTok was! 

So Noah took a video of Abby from my phone and posted it, and it went viral! We were amazed, and he said: “Mum, you have to keep doing this.” So he started posting on TikTok and then we began posting on Instagram, too. But then we started to wonder: “Should we be in this environment? Is this right Lord?”

We were praying about everything. You get a lot of negative comments and, as a mum, I want to make sure it is the best for Abby. And then somebody messaged me that scripture “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). And I just was like: “Gosh, OK, this is a platform you’ve given us Lord, help us to use it for your glory.”

Last Sunday, I was struggling as there had been some more negative comments. It always strikes me that when you get really negative comments, the person is unnamed so you can’t address them. Often I just delete really negative things because we’re trying to be a positive influence. So I deleted the first comment I saw, and then she did it again. It was a long comment, about 100 words. I deleted it again, but then I was praying about it on the way to church, wondering, should we just bow out now? 

Then my pastor preached a whole sermon about how as Christians we don’t need to shy away from the battle; we need to be in the battle. We are in the world, but not of it, and we can’t separate ourselves. We need to be on these platforms; we need to be the light.

It really resonated with me, as I had just wanted to shy away from the battle. Of course, I have so many concerns and I want it to be good for Abby, so we take it day by day.

We’ve been able to do so much with it. In January, Abby and I ran and rode our bikes every single day to raise money for Joni and Friends. We were able to raise $6,000. We’ve also been able to help the Endangered Children’s Fund. I think we raised $15,000 for them. I love that we’re teaching Abby how to be mindful of others and how to be able to use her platform for good.

Children are generally funny – although I agree Abby is incredibly so – and many parents share videos of their children online. Why do you think your account became so popular?

I have a theory, but I don’t know for sure. I think COVID was such a discouraging, bleak time for many and, seeing Abby (and accounts that are similar) – a happy, funny, innocent little girl just being a child– was the distraction people needed. We’ve had people say: “Abby made me laugh today and I didn’t think anything could.” I believe being able to make people smile in a difficult season is one of Abby’s gifts and I think that is why so many people follow her online.

I’ve had people message me saying: ‘I didn’t realise you’re a Christian, we’re going to unfollow you’

What is Abby like at home, was she always so funny?

Abby is very vocal and strong willed, much like her brothers! Noah worked in a comedy club for a while and he said Abby has better timing than some of the professional comedians!

Do you feel like it was an act of obedience going on social media?

It’s not like God said: “OK, go on social media.” But I just felt like: “Is this something we should do?” Similarly, with becoming a flight attendant, I prayed: “OK, this opportunity is in front of me, Lord, please open the door or close the door.” And that was how I’ve moved forward. 

I’ve been able to share the gospel and pray with people as a flight attendant and that has been amazing. It’s funny, because my husband and I always thought we’d be in full-time missions. But I’m a missionary as a flight attendant. 

What do you feel like God is doing with the platform?

I feel like this platform is something God has given us. I’m really grateful to the Lord that we don’t just have Christians following us. I want to be an outreach; I want to be able to speak to people. I am careful about what we share. Some people message me to argue about what I’ve said. I’m open to discussion; I love to talk about my faith. 

I’ve also had people message me saying: “I didn’t realise you’re a Christian, we’re going to unfollow you.” It’s so funny that they think they feel the need to tell me. So I respond by saying: “I still appreciate you.” 

I’m very prayerful about it all; I want to be able to continue to use this platform so that we can share our faith, and bring people a bit of joy and laughter.