Edo is a delightful older man who works the streets of Sarajevo smiling, shaking people’s hands and selling pens.  He greets me like an old friend each time I see him, and invariably I buy one of his inexpensive pens whether I need it or not.  (In my book he gets credit for being an entrapreneur, rather than simply begging).

Last week I bumped into him while I was out walking with Sunam and Rebekka.  He was smiling, but moving a bit slower than normal.   “How are you, Edo?” I asked. “Not good.  I have diabetes” he answered.  So we prayed for him there on the street, the kind of casual prayer where you talk to Abba as if He were standing next to you, and since we were on the street we kept it short: “God… we know you love Edo.  Will you please bless him, strengthen his body, and even heal him?” And then we squeezed his hand and moved on.

A day or so later we met again on the street, grabbing a quick handshake as we passed in opposite directions.  Then he turned and called after me.  The doctor, it seems, gave him a good report on his insulin levels, and he was all smiles and thumbs-up wanting me to know the good news.   I can’t say if whether or not Edo is healed.  Diabetes isn’t the kind of thing you know right away, nor the type of thing you mess with.  But he saw God take notice of him and answer a prayer for his health.  It reminded me that the Kingdom comes with power, and unless we gather our courage and step out in faith we’ll never see His healing hand at work in the crowd.