date: 19.10.2017.
International family of Mary’s Meals are in Medjugorje in these days as they arrived for the pilgrimage of thanksgiving. They all arrived and on Monday, October 9, they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the humanitarian work of the founder of Mary’s Meals Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow. Magnus and his wife Julie were guests in the programme of radio station „Mir“ Međugorje.
„Mary’s Meals are a beautiful gift we received from God. Unless we are immersed in the prayer and God’s love, it is not possible to do anything significant. That is why we are back here for this big anniversary. I truly believe that Mary’s Meals are a fruit of Medjugorje. While I am travelling all over the world, I can see that the grace of Medjugorje is transforming and changing the world. Thanks to Gospa’s presence, the world has become much better place. I know that I do not know much, but I know that Mary’s Meals are a wonderful gift we received, but we also have a great responsibility because of that. „Mary's Meals is not organisation, it is a family and that is how we feel when we are here in Medjugorje. Today, more than 1 200 000 children are getting meals in more than 15 countries. It all began in Malawi in 2002. Most of the work is done by our volunteers, and only in Malawi, more than 80 000 people are cooking and serving food. Mary’s Meals began to work in a shad my dad owned. Today, 25 years afterwards, we are still working from the same shed as we wish to act in the spirit of the poverty. People give us donations to feed children and not to build fancy buildings. We are now preparing Mary’s Meals distribution in Ethiopia and are delighted because of that, as those children are truly happy and all of them are waiting for us. We move on, please pray for our mission and all those who are part of our mission. While we did this, it was always our desire to honour the Heavenly Mother, so She would lead us all to Her Son,“ said Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow for radio station „Mir“ Međugorje.
I was a nurse. When the war started here, I came to help as I wanted to stay here and do something useful. I was 16, but God had different plan. This is where Magnus and I met and this is where my life had changed. I am so proud of Mary’s Meals. The whole family is proud and happy, said Julie, Magnus’ wife. We thank God for each child that is fed and we know that due to the hunger, 61 million children do not go to school. We really believe we can help each of those children if we pray and remain faithful to what Gospa has been inviting us too, added Julie.
Mary’s Meals were named after Mary, Mother of Jesus, and are a fruit of Medjugorje. Magnus, while he was a teenage boy, came to Medjugorje in 1983 with his brothers and sisters and that pilgrimage changed lives of their family. As he as watching horrifying scenes of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, he decided to bring humanitarian aid here with his brother and that is how this amazing story began that later on developed to Mary’s Meals and changed lives of millions of children from all over the world.
Mary’s Meals are providing a warm meal for the hungry children in the poorest countries all over the world each day. For most of those children, this is the only meal they get on that day, but at the same time it is the meal that transforms their lives, satisfies the need for food and enables them to have education that could save them from the poverty in the future. 30 convertible marks is enough for one child to have daily meal each day as well as the education in one whole year.
