Background
He was born in Snåsa and is known as "the man with warm hands", "Snåsamannen" (Snåsa Manitoba) or locally "Snåsakaill’n".
He was born in Snåsa and is known as "the man with warm hands", "Snåsamannen" (Snåsa Manitoba) or locally "Snåsakaill’n".
Joralf Gjerstad claims that his ability to heal people comes from his Christian faith, and that he is not the only one in his family with psychic powers. A biography about him written by Ingar Sletten Kolloen that was published in 2008 became a bestseller. Gjerstad has worked as a control assistant at a dairy farm for 25 years and for the Snåsa church for 16 years.
He has written several local history books together with many biographies.
He has also worked as a local politician and served as the deputy mayor for the Labor Party in Snåsa. He is one of the main founders of “Marthe and Joralf’s help fund”, which funds organizations that arrange outdoor events for disabled people in Nord-Trøndelag.
Gjerstad has also collected a lot of information on the emigration from Snåsa to America. The connection between Snåsa and Saint Olaf College in Minnesota (where one of the founders, Bernt Julius Muus, came from Snåsa) was established through him.
In honor of his good work, the Gjerstad Foundation decided to renovate his childhood home and it is now turned into a museum.
There is also a museum with information about Joralf and his life located at Snåsa Hotel. He has, until now, refused to be tested by ‘scientist and other experts’. Joralf Gjerstad: Snåsninger og andre nordmenn i Vesterled, 1998.
