Vanessa Hudgens went on social media Monday to ask her followers to pray for her father, who is suffering from an unknown illness.
The 26-year-old actress went on Instagram, where she has 9 million followers, on Monday and shared a touching picture with her father, Gregory Hudgens, and a fluffy white dog. Her father's illness remains undisclosed for now.
"My daddy and I, please pray for his healing!" Hudgens wrote. "The more prayers, the better."
Instagram noted that the post with her father, who works as a firefighter, has received over 352,000 likes and over 2,000 comments.
Hudgens elaborated on her Christian faith during an interview with Alexandra Jacobs of the New York Times back in March. She revealed that her faith has been restored by attending services at Hillsong Church with her boyfriend, Austin Butler, on a regular basis.
"It feels like Arcade Fire - it's epic like that," Hudgens said in describing Hillsong worship services through the lens of an award-winning rock band. "They really focus on you having your own personal relationship with Jesus, which is wonderful."
Hudgens added that while she was born a Catholic, she "never felt very connected to it." However, she also admitted to being "a definite hippie" at the same time.
"I'm literally my happiest self when I'm dancing half naked on a grass field listening to Led Zeppelin," Hudgens said.
According to its website, Hillsong portrays itself as "a church that believes in Jesus and loves God and people."
"We have a heart for authentic worship, are passionate about the local church, and are on mission to see God's kingdom established across the earth," Hillsong wrote.
Hillsong describes itself as "a Christian church that is a part of the Australian Christian Churches (ACC), a movement of 1100 churches and more than 250,000 believers across Australia."
"The primary function of Christian churches across the world - regardless of denomination - is to build people's spiritual lives, and meet the fundamental needs of faith: discipleship, teaching, worship, missions and church planting," Hillsong wrote.
According to its website, Hillsong also runs a Bible College, "world class" youth and children's programs, ministries for all ages, counseling services and hospital support. It is also behind one of the world's largest annual Christian gatherings, Hillsong Conference, which draws "people from every denomination including Salvation Army, Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, and Pentecostal."
"All income of Hillsong Church goes toward the not-for-profit objectives of our ministry," Hillsong wrote.
