Christian author, Bible teacher, and hip-hop artist Jackie Hill Perry is opening up about a health crisis that has reshaped her life and deepened her dependence on God. The 36-year-old wife and mother of four revealed this week that she was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes after a frightening medical episode during a ministry trip to Australia.

Perry shared the news in a series of Instagram posts, explaining that her symptoms began in August while she was teaching at a conference in Sydney. What she thought was simple jet lag quickly became something more alarming. Her vision blurred, dehydration set in, and she felt an overwhelming mix of exhaustion and confusion — what she described as feeling like “an all-around hot mess.”

“At some level, I figured it was jet lag,” she wrote. International travel is demanding, but she said she had no idea her body was signaling a serious medical issue. When she returned home, her eye doctor encouraged her to check her blood sugar. A home test read 424. At the hospital, it climbed to 514. That’s where she heard the words she never expected: “You have diabetes.”

“The shock was real because in my mind, I didn’t have the lifestyle or heritage that warranted the diagnosis,” she shared. Doctors later confirmed it was Type 1 diabetes — an autoimmune disease in which the pancreas stops producing insulin. According to CDC data, only about 5.7% of U.S. adults with diabetes have Type 1.

Perry revealed she spent four days in an Australian hospital battling diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially life-threatening condition. She also described the fear and frustration of encountering medical staff who were not fully equipped to treat a newly diagnosed Type 1 patient. “There were so many situations in which I and the people that love me had to fight for me to get the care I needed,” she wrote, including nearly being discharged without insulin.

But even in the chaos, God’s comfort showed up. Friends stayed with her overnight, checking her blood sugar every 45 minutes. “They became for me a visible representation of God’s presence in the room,” she said. She also credited a specially trained diabetes nurse for helping her understand how to manage the disease safely.

The diagnosis has also brought new depth to her marriage. Perry shared a moment from the Dove Awards in Nashville when her blood sugar suddenly dropped. Her husband, Preston, rushed to the lobby at 1 a.m. to buy a candy bar to help stabilize her levels. “This new norm has not changed Preston’s love for me,” she wrote. “It’s revealed new aspects.”

Perry, known for her bestselling books Gay Girl, Good God and Holier Than Thou, as well as her music and Bible teaching, has been candid about the spiritual battles she has faced in recent years. In an interview with The Christian Post earlier this fall, she said she has experienced “profound” suffering along with God’s sweetness. “Any pain, any hardship, is also an opportunity to share in Christ’s suffering,” she said. “Even though it’s hard, I know that the Lord loves me by allowing me to go through what I go through.”

She told followers she waited to share her diagnosis because of how dramatically it changed her life. However, she now hopes that her story will encourage others to seek help and take better care of their health. “This diagnosis came in the middle of everything, shifting so much of how I navigate life,” she wrote. “But I am sincerely grateful. Because God has and is still my help. So yea, get yalls A1C checked.”