The Visitor

Retold by: Wilfred Raj, Oasis

There was a famous church in England on a roadside. On the other side of the road was a big park, where people came for various entertainments in the evenings. The park remained vacant during the other times of the day. The park was made his home by a homeless man called Jim. He had no job or family. Though he wore neat and clean dress, it was discernible from his very appearance that he was poor.

The church remained open all day long. People who drive by the road used to stop in front of the church to offer their prayers. But by noon, the road would become less busy. By this time, Jim would cross the road and come before the front door of the church. He did not know how to pray. So he would open his hands wide and say aloud: “Hello Jesus, here is Jim!”

Days went by quietly. It happened that one day when he crossed the road, a speeding car hit him, and he fell down. Some passerby took him to a charity hospital where he was admitted as an in-patient.

Jim noticed that all the others who had been admitted to the hospital were also poor. But all of them had somebody to look after them. Every time, somebody visited the hospital to wish a speedy recovery to any of the patients. On the other hand, there was nobody to look after Jim, nor had he got any visitors.

Nevertheless, Jim remained happy all the time. He would go near every inmate of the hospital and enquire of their health condition. He would console those who complained of their illness. His presence was a source of cheer for all the others. They wondered how he remained so jovial all the time.

One day somebody asked Jim how he could keep himself and others happy, even while there was nobody to care for him. Jim answered merrily: “I am happy because every day by noon, a man comes to me. He keeps his hands wide open and say to me; ‘Hello Jim, here is Jesus’”