Krizevac means 'Mount of the Cross'
Krizevac is a Croatian word given to the mountain that rises above the pilgrimage town of Medjugorje in Bosnia, Herzegovnia, where since 1981, a number of children have had apparitions of Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. It was here that Krizevac Project founder, Tony Smith, discovered peace, prayer and personal connection which inspired him to start this charity.
As a successful businessman, and guided by his faith, Tony decided to use the profits from his companies (primarily Mobell Communications and Paragon Projection), to help transform some of the world’s most needy communities. In 1997, Tony was inspired to phone Gay Russel, a pilot resident in Malawi whom he had seen on a video giving witness to Medjugorije. He explained to Gay that he had a desire for a Medugorje, Krizevac Cross to be built on a mountain in Malawi. Through Gay’s great energy, things moved very quickly and a full-sized, 15m-high replica of the Krizevac Cross was built on Mount Michiru outside Blantyre. To compliment the cross, the Catholic Church of St James, as well as St James’ Parish Primary School were constructed in Chilomoni in 2005-6. This was the start of Krizevac Project’s work with the local people in beginning to transform the township of Chilomoni.
Through the Krizevac Project, further crosses have since been built on mountains in Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya and Cameroon. We hope that these will become catalyst’s for local change and we continue to work with the nearby communities to see how we can best support them.
Vision
Tony’s vision is that there will be at least 15 Krizevac crosses, each on a mountain in a different country of Africa by 2033. The communities beside these crosses will grow in prosperity and prayer to become, like the village of Medjugorje, a wellspring of deep peace and inspiration for those who visit and live there.
Following the construction of the cross in Chilomoni, Malawi, the local community asked for jobs for the unemployed youth of the area. This impoverished township is on the outskirts of Blantyre, one of Malawi’s largest cities where unemployment is very high. Some young people wanted to learn new skills and asked Tony for sewing machines from the UK. In response to this plea, thousands of people dug out unused sewing machines from their lofts and gifted them to the Krizevac Project. More than a decade later, they are still coming! The sewing machines began a successful tailoring training enterprise and these machines now equip trainees so they may start their own enterprise or fix and mend for their own children.
Thus began the Beehive Centre for Social Enterprise, which has now expanded to include IT training and a range of small enterprises. This Malawian-run, not-for-profit organisation provides vocational education and creates jobs. Beehive enterprises range from Torrent, a construction plant hire company, to the Cycle of Good (COG), which made upcycled and recycled goods. All profits from Beehive’s enterprises support education and training. Outreach initiatives extend Beehive’s reach into the community to support the most vulnerable.