"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."

~ Psalms 46:1

Dear Friends, 

The wonderful Johnson family is in need of our collective love, support, and prayers; to journey along side them in their story. Over the last several years, their strength has been tested in ways few could imagine as they navigate the complex health challenges of their two beautiful daughters, Abby and Mia.

Since 2016, their lives have truly been turned upside down. Yet, through every trial, set back and unanswered question, they have remained anchored in their faith—pressing into Jesus and truly living moment by moment, trusting that He will provide the peace, strength, healing and the resources they need to keep moving forward, even in the hours that feel most dark & daunting.

Within the last few months, the Johnson family had to make the difficult choice to seek treatment outside the U.S., in Germany. Because their health insurance does not cover their medical bills for treatments outside the U.S., nor cover many of the treatments they believe will help their daughters, they are facing substantial medical costs, along with regular living expenses, vehicle rentals for the drive to and from treatments, expenses to travel back and forth as Mike and Drew are currently unable to join Michelle and the girls in Germany full time. Mike continues to work in the U.S. to support their family as his profession is non-existent in Europe. Because of these factors their family remains separated except between work shifts when and if Mike is able to travel to Germany to be with his family. Currently, their living situation is ever changing and the medical needs are constant. 

Please know your prayers are what the Johnson family desires most of all; believing that God hears our prayers and will answer according to His will. 

If you are able, please prayerfully consider loving the Johnson family by supporting them financially no matter how big or small your contribution might be; God can multiply our collective efforts to provide exactly what they need, right when they need it. Lastly, please consider sharing their story far and wide to anyone you know who may be willing to walk alongside their family in these ways, in hopes that as a whole, we can have a ripple affect that will bless the Johnson family far beyond what we can hope or imagine.

Thank you all for praying, loving, supporting and journeying along side this sweet family however God leads you to, it means so much to each one of them. 

For a deeper understanding of the Johnson family's story, their prayer requests and the road that lies ahead, please see the message from Mike & Michelle below. ?

"We find ourselves in an ongoing story that we didn’t plan and would not have chosen, but that God has allowed. 

Our daughters, Abby (22) and Mia (15), were diagnosed with congenital Lyme disease at the same time I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, in 2016. (As doctors have told us and we are learning, a congenital Lyme diagnosis means that it has affected gene replication and is stubborn to treat.) We left Michigan in 2018 because toxic mold, which affects those with chronic Lyme in an extreme way, had made us quite ill. We moved to the desert (Prescott Valley), at the recommendation of our doctors. Blessedly, we had 3 to 4 really good years of health and we thought we had beaten the worst effects of chronic Lyme in our lives. It was truly a gift from God. Between late 2023 and mid 2024, the girls’ chronic Lyme was triggered by something in our environment, they developed MCAS/POTS, and became bed bound. It was suddenly difficult to find foods they could tolerate, each lost 25-30 pounds, and they rarely left the house because being outdoors would send them into anaphylaxis.

After exhausting our known efforts to treat their illness in the US, including trying new US locations, we went to a Lyme clinic in Mexico from February to May of this year. There was a bit of improvement there for the girls, but upon returning to the US, their health drifted back to a dangerous place. Again, at the advice of doctors and health mentors, we left the US and are now pursuing environmental illness treatment and seeking clean air in Germany. While here, we have learned that Abby had a cancerous neuroendocrine tumor in her appendix (which was removed in April, but we were not told about the tumor until recently), and that she has stage 4 endometriosis that requires surgery. At the recommendation of our German doctors, Abby had a medical port placed to aid in her treatments, but had an allergic reaction to the port, and had it removed two days later. We do not feel that we can take the girls back to the US until they are significantly more stable, because particular things in the environment there were triggering their symptoms.

Meanwhile, Mike and Drew are living in the US about half time, while Mike works to support us - in a profession that cannot be remote and does not exist in Europe (nurse anesthesia). Many dear friends have helped us along the way - raising funds for us to help us with our treatment in Mexico, helping us to clean our house to sell, taking care of our dog, keeping Drew when we’ve been without a place for him to go, housing Mike, sharing vehicles with us, praying, etc. We are so grateful for these many sacrifices, to help us carry a burden that feels too heavy to shoulder on our own. As we face ongoing treatment for the girls (for whom some things have improved, but they still have a long way to go to live normal lives), sweet friends have come to us again and asked if they can do another fundraiser to help us. This is a humbling and uncomfortable thing to agree to, especially to do more than once, but the offer came at a time when we were again praying for the Lord‘s provision for our family’s finances. Who are we to interfere with a way that the Lord wants to help our girls? So we share our need with you, in the event that the Lord leads you to give toward our girls’ care. We desire most, though, your partnership in prayer. Would you ask the Lord with us for:

⁃ His healing touch/restoration for the girls’ health and lives, 

⁃ strength to endure suffering, 

⁃ that we would be changed and grow in all the ways He wants us to be through this experience, 

⁃ that we would sense the Lord’s guidance about where to live/what livelihood we should pursue, 

⁃ that God would redeem our experience and allow us to minister to others because of what we’ve learned (down the road), 

⁃ that our family relationships would be strong, 

⁃ that we would have a community with other believers wherever we go, and

⁃ that we would share our faith with the people whose lives we intersect with.

Thank you for walking this journey with us, we will always be grateful for it." 

Mike & Michelle Johnson