How a visit to Medjugorje inspired us to turn our faith into concrete action

We are Maika and Willy, and our lives are a fruit of Medjugorje. We live in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and have been married since 2012. Willy has been organising pilgrimages to Medjugorje since 2000, and this experience has profoundly shaped our journey. Medjugorje gave us a genuine and personal encounter with God through Mary – an experience that restored order within us and gave us back peace and a new perspective on life.

We felt that what we had experienced could not remain merely a memory. It had to become life. It was on this journey that we encountered Mary’s Meals, a fruit of Medjugorje. The mission struck us for its simplicity and profundity: to provide a meal for children in educational settings in the poorest countries. A simple gesture, yet one capable of changing everything. Where there is hunger, there is often no chance to go to school, and when there is no school, the future fades away. Mary’s Meals steps in precisely there, transforming a meal into opportunity, dignity and hope.

At first, we asked ourselves what we could do. We didn’t have great resources, but we had a strong desire to get started. That’s how our markets came about. With simplicity, we began to create and offer items, but with a specific purpose: every item had to become something much greater; for every item sold, we donate between 30 and 50 meals. It is something that still moves us, because it shows that a small gesture, accessible to everyone, can become real nourishment for those experiencing hunger and poverty. We have seen something extraordinary grow: we were not just helping individual children, but entire schools. Today we support our 23rd school.

One of the most beautiful things about this journey is that we have never been alone. What began as a small step has turned into something shared. Friends, families and people we have met along the way have started walking with us. A network has been created, a community united by a simple yet powerful value: caring for others. We have discovered that solidarity creates deep bonds. It takes us out of ourselves and allows us to truly connect with others. Even though we are geographically distant, we feel deeply united. This journey has also helped us to view poverty differently: it is not just a lack of food and resources, but a lack of opportunity. Mary’s Meals tackles the problem at its root: by providing a meal at school, it helps children to learn, making opportunities that otherwise would not be. A child who eats can stay in school. A child who stays in school can build their own future. This is how the cycle of poverty will be broken.

We have realised that authentic faith does not stand still. It is not limited to words or moments of prayer. It becomes action, a gift, a concrete way of life. Our markets, the donated meals, the schools we support, they are not just activities: they are the way in which we try to live out what we believe in every day. In the end, it all comes down to a choice: to remain a spectator or to become part of the change. At a certain point, we simply said: “Here I am.” Without knowing where it would lead us, without imagining how far we would go. Today we can look back and see a journey made up of small steps that have created something far greater than ourselves. That is why we feel we can say that great resources are not needed. What is needed is a willing heart. What is needed is to begin. Because from a small gesture, made with love, something immense can be born; we can help build a world in which no child has to give up on their future.