"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" Matthew 5:5

His name is Norman Jones... but his street name is Thor. If you saw him from afar, you might run the other direction. But as he gets closer and you see the smile on his face and the light in his eyes.. you might just want to hug him. He is one of the few "street men" we know who has no criminal record. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He's a gift giver... he has nothing but the clothes on his back, but he always manages to come bearing gifts for someone on the staff. He doesn't say much at all.... he usually just stares silently and smiles. But the few little words he says usually consist of, "Hi everyone", "Please", "Thank you" and "I love you". If I could use a word to describe Thor, it would be meek. He is very loved.


He hasn't missed a Sunday night worship service, a Monday afternoon AA meeting or a Tuesday visit with the doctor to get vitamins in 6 years. So when we didn't see him on Sunday we got a little worried, when he didn't show up on Monday the AA leader drove the streets looking for him and when he didn't come into the doctor, we just knew. You see... it isn't uncommon for us to lose a few homeless men in the winter every year. Their feeble bodies just can't handle the cold weather and many freeze to death. So yesterday afternoon we got the call... he died alone sometime over the weekend in an abandoned house. But Thor wasn't alone.. Thor was a believer in Jesus Christ. So when his poor sick, cold body passed from this earth, he got to go to a much warmer place. Thor won't ever have to live through another cold winter. He is safe and warm in the arms of the King.



My favorite picture of Thor... kneeling at the foot of the cross to take communion.