THE
P RTAL
Mary’s Meals Supplement
Page ii
Mary’s Meals
The Portal meets Magnus
MacFarlane-Barrow, the Founder
and CEO of the inspirational charity,
Mary’s Meals, at his Scotland HQ
To meet
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow we took an hour
and a half car journey to the West Coast of Scotland along
narrow roads. At Dalmally village, we took the drive to Craig Lodge – a community Retreat House. It is at the
end of a long winding and narrow metalled track. Magnus lives with his family nearby.
Once there, the welcome was warm indeed. It is a
large house, where he lives with his family, parents and
members of the Community and some Retreatants
(www.craiglodge.org). We met in the shed that is the
headquarters of Mary’s Meals. Of course we wanted to
know how it all began.
salmon farmer
overwhelmed by people’s kindness and goodness has
been the story of our work all these years.
“I think that it’s worth mentioning that this was our
home. It was a guest house when I grew up, Craig
Lodge. Mum and dad turned it into a retreat centre, a
place of prayer. That had been going on for ten years
before this work was ever born, which is one of the
reasons why I always describe Mary’s Meals as a fruit
of prayer because I believe it really is.
Magnus told us, “I grew up in Dalmally, Scotland.
I was a salmon farmer and in 1992 my brother and
I hatched a little plan to try and do one small thing
to help people who were suffering in Bosnia. We
“From that first delivery in 1992, for the next ten
launched a little appeal asking people for basic things years we were doing all kinds of different work under
that refugees need. We took one week holiday from the name of Scottish International Relief. We were
our jobs, and drove the aid out.
going to places where we were invited and where there
were acute needs. We were opening homes for children
“Meanwhile I’d asked my dad if we could borrow the who were abandoned and HIV positive, in Romania
shed that we are sitting in to store the aid. We drove for example. We worked in Liberia during the civil
to Bosnia, came back one week later thinking I’d done war providing emergency aid. We worked with street
my good dead and it was back to work as normal. We children in Latin America. All kinds of things and no
found that God had a different plan because the aid we particular theme.
had asked for was continuing to pour in.
driving trucks to Bosnia
“I decided to give up my job. I sold my house and
began driving trucks back and forth to Bosnia. That’s
how the work began. I never at any point said ‘I’m going
to start a new aid organisation.’ The experience of being
fami