$5,361 raised
·54 donations

Join Us in Healing Hadassah's Health
Donation protected


Written on behalf of our beloved friends, The Shields.
-The Johnsons
Hadassah
We are Caleb and Sharim Shields, parents to our two beautiful children Ezekiel and Hadassah. We serve as domestic missionaries through Immerse Ministries, with a mission of Evangelism, Discipleship and Worship and to unite the body of Christ to make an eternal impact on the communities we have been called to serve. We are wholly reliant on God's provision to equip and sustain us in this calling.
In February 2024, our youngest child Hadassah got sick. Kids get sick - as we all know. After being told it was multiple viruses for several months, her condition continued to decline. In May of 2024, following several months of digestive issues, she suffered from a hypoglycemic seizure, causing her to be hospitalized for the first of multiple times. She was unresponsive and barely holding on. She was on the verge of being categorized as "failure to thrive" and we nearly lost her. After more careful evaluation and treatment for a spectrum of digestive and respiratory issues, she was diagnosed with FPIES (Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome). FPIES is a rare and severe food allergy that primarily affects the gastrointestinal system. It affects between 0.005 to 0.01 percent of infants, and is a diagnosis that dramatically affects a child and their family's life. Proteins that trigger an allergic reaction can be present in almost any food, and determining those trigger foods requires a strict elimination diet and a reduction down to a very small variety of foods that are known not to trigger an allergic reaction.
The reactions that Hadassah experience include gastrointestinal and respiratory effects, and evaluating her body's sensitivities requires extensive (and expensive) testing. In the time her respiratory sensitivities were being evaluated, she also contracted whooping cough. Known as the 100 day virus, the further complications from the whooping cough infection has made respiratory testing and treatment impossible until the virus clears.
In the meantime, Hadassah has been restricted to specialized formula and a very selective variety of whole foods that are known to be safe for her. Everything that goes into her mouth has to be monitored. As we move forward, she will require ongoing testing, evaluation and treatment from a variety of specialists including ENT, allergists, dietitians, GI doctors and speech therapists.
We are trusting Jesus for healing, peace, and guidance to save His precious child. We believe that He is the healer who can restore perfect health as he wishes. We also believe that he works through our illnesses and weaknesses to testify to His power, and uses the talents and abilities that He has given to people to testify to His goodness, and we have to trust in Him that He is working everything out for His glory and for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.
In this journey, we are asking for help that Jesus' name and power may be made known through the goodness and generosity of our community of family, friends, and fellow believers. We have so many unanswered questions, and so many steps to take in faith, but we trust that Jesus will guide each step and work mightily before everyone that Hadassah's story reaches. We count ourselves so blessed that God chose us to nurture one of His cherished children, and are so thankful for the support we have already received.
We first and foremost want to ask for fervent prayer for a miraculous healing for Hadassah. We also want to ask you to pray for strength, understanding, peace and comfort for us as her parents. Beyond this, if there is any monetary gift you can provide, those funds will all go to support her specialized diet, nutritional supplements, and medical procedures that we will be navigating for the coming months and possibly years. We ask that you pray blessings over any gift you can give, as we believe that the prayers of God's people are effective and accomplish much.
We want to express our deepest gratitude for lifting our child up before the Lord in prayer, and your generosity in helping us to treat her to the best of our earthly abilities. In the love of Christ, thank you.
Donations
Organizer and beneficiary

Sara Johnson
Organizer
Dade City, FL

Sharim Shields
Beneficiary