Despite an ongoing illness, Adryana Parris is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ worldwide and in her community through Operation Christmas Child.
Adryana had always wanted to be a missionary. The Floridian was inspired by her mother’s parents, who had served in South America for decades, and she dreamed of one day sharing the Gospel overseas.
When she was 5 years old, her mother, Dina, helped her see, even as a child, that God had meaningful work for her in His Kingdom. Dina had worked with Operation Christmas Child to help translate The Greatest Journey into Spanish. The Greatest Journey is our 12-lesson follow-up discipleship program for shoebox recipients. She taught her daughter that packing shoeboxes gives boys and girls an opportunity to hear the Gospel—some for the first time.
Adryana (left) is passionate about sharing the Gospel with boys and girls around the world through Operation Christmas Child.
Whenever they went shopping, they searched for practical and fun items that would bless a child who had next to nothing, often going above and beyond to assemble quality shoeboxes packed with school supplies, toys, dolls, clothing, and other items to fill every nook and cranny of the gift.
“If this box is representing Jesus’ love for them, then we want to make sure that it’s quality so that they realize that God really loves them,” Adryana said.
Adryana often packs themed boxes to elevate the level of fun children will have when they receive the gifts.
Her heart overflowed with compassion for children around the world, and she resolved to pack one more shoebox gift than the year before. She wanted as many boys and girls as possible to have an opportunity to come to faith in Jesus Christ. By the time she reached high school, she had increased her goal by 200 each year.
She organized bake sales and fundraisers to help cover the cost of the gift items and the $10 donation per shoebox. She also hosted parties for neighbors, her parents’ church discipleship group, friends, and family to help her pack shoeboxes.
Adryana rejoiced as she saw the Lord provide every single time. “We set faith goals that we know we can’t achieve and that require God’s intervention and people’s support,” she said.
A Life-Changing Sickness
Adryana saw God’s sovereignty at work when her health took a drastic turn during her sophomore year of high school. After years of being physically active, she had suddenly become too weak to get out of bed.
“It was very difficult to see my very healthy daughter go from running a 5K to not even being able to walk throughout our house,” Dina said.
Though her sickness left her too weak to walk around her home, she spent her time diving deep into God’s Word.
Adryana experienced aches and fevers that were so severe that she felt as if she was dying. Despite consulting multiple specialists, her symptoms worsened without an explanation or cure.
The spring before her senior year, she was diagnosed with Bartonella (and, later, also with Lyme disease).
But she was not discouraged. She was determined to see how God would be glorified and care for her through the trial.
“The desire of my heart has to be Him,” she said. “Whatever way my life goes, I have to be OK with it. It’s worth it because He is worth it.”
She was also determined to see the Lord provide the strength and resources to pack 1,000 shoeboxes.
Faith Tested and Proven
Only one month after her official diagnosis, Adryana was rushed to the emergency room with high fevers. The hospital staff tried to bring down her temperature, but nothing could take away the extreme pain.
As she lay in her hospital bed, her mind wandered to the shoeboxes, wondering how God would provide for her impossible goal. But, instead of worrying, she and her mother decided to pray. “If we’re meant to do 1,000 shoeboxes, would You please make it clear?” Adryana prayed.
Dina crafted scrapbooks to reflect on God’s goodness during the scariest parts of Adryana’s health journey.
Thirty minutes later, Dina received an unexpected text from a neighbor wanting to know how to contribute financially to Adryana’s shoebox packing goal.
They saw this as a clear sign, so mother and daughter returned to shoebox packing as soon as Adryana was discharged. In His perfect timing, spring break had just begun, and they dedicated the week to packing shoeboxes.
Despite her pain, sickness, and exhaustion, Adryana experienced joy in being obedient to the Lord. Too weak to walk, she rode in shopping carts as she and her mother went up and down store aisles, shopping for gift items. At home and too weak to move, she sat in a chair while Dina passed her items to fill the shoeboxes.
“Packing shoeboxes helped me take my eyes off my circumstance and put my eyes on Jesus. It was my sacrifice of praise—my soul needed it,” she said. “I needed to continually be reminded that God’s Name is worth sharing.”
Adryana received treatments throughout the year and was often too sick to get out of bed. She visited the emergency room multiple times, and her health continued to deteriorate. Yet she did not give up faith.
Dina and Adryana buy clothing and toys in bulk whenever items go on sale in stores.
He blessed her with a community that supported her as she pushed on toward her goal. An employee at a discount store, who supported Adryana’s mission, would tell her when seasonal and retail sales were about to launch. Friends and neighbors continued to offer their time and resources—she was awestruck when someone covered the $10,000 cost of shipping for all 1,000 shoeboxes.
“We didn’t dream big enough,” she told her mother. “God’s going to do more than that! We’re going to do more than 1,000 shoeboxes.”
By National Collection Week, Adryana had packed 1,747 boxes, raised more than $17,000 to cover the $10 donation per shoebox, and raised over $10,000 to send each shoebox recipient through The Greatest Journey classes. She could not believe how in a turbulent year full of emergency room visits and health scares, the Lord had provided far more than she had imagined.
“I’ve seen what God can do when I put my faith in Him—if I can imagine it, He can do more,” she said.
Adryana’s friends, family, and neighbors helped her load all 1,747 shoeboxes into cars to be shipped to a processing center.
Gospel Opportunities for a Missionary’s Heart
Although Adryana faces ongoing health challenges, her passion for God and the Great Commission burns brighter and fiercer.
Because of her illness, she does not know if she could ever be a missionary overseas. But she is grateful that she can be on mission with God anywhere.
Adryana always shares her testimony and the Good News of Jesus Christ at her packing parties. She invites neighbors, family, and friends who have not given their lives to Jesus to come listen and participate. She knows they need Him just as much as the children receiving the boxes.
Through shoebox gifts, God has given her a larger mission field than she ever imagined. She is witnessing to her local community, sharing with them the eternal hope she has found over and over again in Jesus Christ. And she is igniting Christians to participate in spreading the Gospel around the world, one shoebox at a time.
“I desired so deeply to be a missionary in Africa,” she said. “But God allowed me to stay here in America to speak on behalf of kids in other countries.”
