Alessandra is no stranger to international travel or living among foreign cultures. As the daughter of a career military father, she has lived in Germany and Japan and visited a number of other countries. In 2018, she and a contingent of City On A Hill members traveled on a mission trip to Nicaragua to help build a church, conduct eye clinics, and distribute household goods to poor families, among other activities. So the idea of traveling to Brazil for a twelve-day mission trip didn’t faze her in the least, though she admits she was relieved to know that the Brazil trip was about discipleship rather than building something.

Three months have passed since The Way’s five-member cohort returned from Brazil, but Alessandra is still relishing the memories of that spirit-filled journey.

She said she was inspired to go on the Brazil trip after Rick Bonfim preached at The Way Woodstock one Sunday in February.

During the eleven o’clock service, she said, Rick formed a prayer line in front of the altar in Latimer Hall; individuals formed two parallel lines facing one another. As worshippers passed through, the people in the lines prayed for them.

“It was so spiritual; I was overwhelmed,” Alessandra said. “I just felt this pull to go to Brazil.”

It’s a decision she has not regretted.

After a ten-hour flight, the group landed in Rio de Janeiro, where they spent several days at the Rick Bonfim Ministries mission immersed in Bible instruction and learning about praying with and over people in a culture different from their own. A ten-hour bus ride then took them to Brodowski, a largely urban municipality of roughly 25,000 inhabitants in the state of Sao Paulo.

In Brodowksi, the thirty-three missionaries from the United States and other parts of Brazil attended five worship services over a four-day revival at a Global Methodist Church, Iglesia Methodista, in the heart of town. Alessandra said the worship space was about four or five times the size of Latimer Hall and was filled during all five services. The church reverberated with praises to God.

“What struck me was the praise music,” she said. “It was so worshipful. The praise band and the singers were excellent.” Large TV screens showed the song lyrics in both Portuguese and English.

Worship services were followed by a time of prayer that took one of three formats, which Rick Bonfim named Dr Pepper, Coca-Cola, and Sprite. Dr Pepper was a prayer line, similar to what he had done in Latimer Hall. With oil on their hands, the missionaries anointed and prayed for each person who came thought the line. Coca-Cola referred to praying with people one on one. Sprite was the term he used to let the missionaries know they were going out into the congregation to pray.

Alessandra said every part of those four days was meaningful and inspiriting, but what most touched her heart was the Saturday night Coca-Cola prayer time when all the missionaries formed a line in the front of the church and individuals from the community attending the service could choose which missionary they wanted to pray with them.

Alessandra said she was thinking to herself, “What if no one chooses me?” That’s when a man approached her carrying a little girl and asked Alessandra to pray for his daughter, who had been born with a clubfoot. Rebeca, who was 3 or 4 years old, had had two surgeries to fix her foot. Alessandra prayed for the girl’s healing.

When the service was over, Alessandra looked for the man because she hadn’t gotten his and his daughter’s name. “I finally saw him in the crowd as he was ready to leave the church.”

Alessandra walked up to him and introduced herself. She learned that his name was Diego and his wife was Juliana. Diego showed  Alessandra a photo of two-month-old Rebeca on his phone—the girl’s foot was turned about 180 degrees backward. Her foot is now facing forward though Diego said when Rebeca walks, her foot still wants to turn inward.

“It was so touching to me because out of thirty-three people he could have chosen for prayer, Diego picked me.”

Pastor Andy later reminded Alessandra of her spiritual gift. Alessandra had not taken the spiritual gifts assessment Andy had talked about in church. She said she already knew her spiritual gift was administration because she had spent most of her career in office management and as an administrative assistant to high-level executives.

When Alessandra finally completed the assessment shortly before leaving for the Brazil trip, she was surprised to learn that she scored highest on the gift of healing. Andy told Alessandra it wasn’t chance that led Diego and Rebeca to come to her for prayer that Saturday night. It was the Holy Spirit tapping into Alessandra’s spiritual gift.

Her experience with Diego and Rebeca made the whole trip worthwhile.

“This trip has strengthened my praying life,” she said. “I had just learned about my spiritual gift of healing. It reminds me of how close to God we are—He’s here now. We’re in the middle of God’s Kingdom. I feel it’s all come together for me. And you just can’t match that.”

Written by Tricia Grindel