Morocco

Since I've been back from vacation for three weeks now, it's about time for me to update the blog with some of the trip details. I was able to spend 5 days in Casablanca, Morocco with my mother's parents. Nanny & Poppy and I had a wonderful time. The long plane rides (about 11 hours from Boston to Morocco via Paris) were broken up a bit with movies, sleeping, and reading. Needless to say we were a bit cranky when we arrived and were waiting in line to pass through customs.

From Morocco

The innumerable people returning home from their Ramadan pilgrimages to Mecca that morning added to our frustration. After what felt like ages but was probably only two hours, we were met at the airport by our friendly taxi driver and headed to the hotel for some Welcome Tea and a nap.

From Morocco

Thankfully we adjusted fairly quickly to the four hour time difference (5 hours for me) and were able to enjoy all of the sights and sounds Casablanca has to offer for those in their late 70s and their granddaughters. The first day was full of browsing in the Old Medina and bazaar and getting our bearings. We also made plans to visit the Hassan II Mosque (the 3rd largest in the world) the next day (Friday, the Muslim Holy day). What a beautiful place! I wish that we had worked out our timing a bit better so we could've gone inside--it's an open mosque, both women and non-Muslims can tour it--for one of the scheduled tours.

From Morocco

Next we took a taxi across town to the El-Hud lighthouse. It is not a tourist attraction, but it was one of the most peaceful places that I think we went to. Then again, there was so much calm and beauty in the country that the entire trip was peaceful. (The leisurely meals and daily naps didn't hurt either.) I had to take this pic for my lighthouse obsessed mother.

From Morocco

On Sabbath we walked down to the post office to mail some postcards and hung out at the local park. The afternoon was full of people watching and soaking in the sun. I also started to notice the stray cat population. As much as it pained me I held back and only took photos. I didn't want to run the risk of bringing back some Moroccan Cat Sickness to my girls.

From Morocco

Sunday we took the train to Kenita and Rabat. My grandparents used to live just outside of Kenita so it was a nice homecoming for them. A lot had changed, but the downtown streets were still recognizable 58 years later.

From Morocco

We spent most of the day in Kenita and by the time we got to the King's Palace in Rabat it was closed! Thankfully we had one day left and once again boarded the train to Rabat on Monday morning. We were able to walk to the Palace and take some pictures, but since it is a functioning government building we couldn't go in.

From Morocco

The last time my grandparents had been to the Palace the Sultan was receiving his annual payments from the Berber tribes. The Palace at that time was in the middle of the desert. My how times have changed. I didn't even see any sand! We also took some time to see the Unfinished Mosque and the Mausoleum of Mohammad V. Unfortunately, our luck held and the mausoleum was closed in preparation for the King's visit.

From Morocco

All three of us stayed in the same hotel room for the duration of the trip and as was to be expected we had our frustrations with each other.

From Morocco

But all in all we had a wonderful trip. I would go again in an instant!

From Morocco

To check out all of the wonder pics, (if you haven't already done so on my FB page) just click on the this pic to take you to them.

From Morocco

Honored

While this was a very busy and productive weekend for me with my first joint Sabbath School presentation, the MJA work bee, and finishing up my third Creating for Charity scarf, I am a bit saddened that I wasn't able to go up to Boston this weekend to see my grandparents honored. In recognition of their years of ministry service--well over 5 decades--their church is sending them on a vacation to Casablanca, Morocco. They lived in Morocco during the first years of their marriage and haven't been back since. They were truly amazed, shocked, and thankful to their church family. I'm a bit jealous that I'm not able to go with them! Below is the ministry bio that my mom wrote up for the service. It is a blessing to be a part of this family.

Ministry of Leo & Lois Poirier

The Poirier’s pastoral ministry spans a journey of approximately 50 years in the Southern New England Conference area. It’s an unlikely story; beginning with a young altar boy at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Leominster, Ma, who eventually, through the influence of his Christian wife, Lois, became a Seventh-day Adventist minister and chaplain.

Lois and Leo met at the Whalom Park Roller Skating Rink when they were teenagers, and Leo had just joined the Navy as a Communications Technician. They continued a courtship by mail and saw each other occasionally when Leo returned home on leave. Though their religious backgrounds differed, they were both dedicated Christians, each trying to convert the other to their own church. In spite of obstacles, they were married in 1950, each still praying for the other’s change of faith. Leo was assigned to the Naval base in French Morocco, Africa, and had to leave his new bride behind for several months, but eventually she was able to courageously join him overseas. They lived off the base in the village with the locals and had many interesting adventures while in Morocco, including the discovery on what was supposed to be the beginning of a European holiday, that Lois was too sick to travel. That discovery ended up becoming their daughter, Maureen!

During their 5th year of marriage, by now stationed on the island of Guam, Lois was able to convince Leo to attend one of the meetings of an evangelistic series at her church. He occasionally enjoyed the radio sermons of H.M.S. Richards, SR, who she explained was from the same faith. Capitalizing on his interest in history, she invited him to the lecture on prophecy and the falling stars in 1833. He was hooked, and with further studies into Biblical truths, he was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist church at the end of the series. Not long afterwards he felt impressed to leave the Navy to become trained in the ministry and eventually become a Navy Chaplain to lead other servicemen to Christ.

The Lord had other plans for Leo and Lois. Leo did complete his Theology degree at Atlantic Union College, and while there, their son Tim was born. In 1957, Leo was assigned as an intern to their first church district -the Boston Temple and Everett churches. They then went to Andrews University Theological Seminary in Michigan to obtain his Master’s of Divinity degree. By this time Maureen was 8 years old and Tim was 3. Leo also worked full time as an electronics technician and Lois kept teacher’s children in their home to try to cover expenses.

After attending the Seminary, they were hired by the Southern New England Conference as Assistant Pastor for the Providence, Wickford, and Burrillville churches in Rhode Island under Elders James Haywood, then Jack Clarke. While preaching in the Wickford church in April of 1962, Leo suffered a stroke from a cerebral aneurysm at the age of only 32. This was a life changing event with a long, but miraculous recovery that God would use to redirect his ministry. A year after his stroke, Leo recovered enough to pastor his own churches in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Canaan, Ct, for 3 years. Lois’s talent was for children’s ministries, and she especially enjoyed leading the Kindergarten Sabbath School. It was there that Leo discovered that due to his stroke, his dream of reentering the military as a chaplain would not be realized, and wondered what other plan God could have for him.

In 1965 the family was transferred again, this time to Connecticut where they pastored at the Plainville, Middletown, and Meriden churches. Leo was ordained as a fully credentialed Minister in 1966. Then, in 1968, Leo received a call from Chaplain Walter Kloss to become his associate hospital chaplain at New England Memorial Hospital in Stoneham. Now Leo & Lois knew how God would use his illness to minister to others in a unique way.

During his ministry to countless patients, families and church members, Leo was also a leader in obtaining and instructing Certification in Clinical Pastoral Education in New England and served as President of the Adventist Association of Chaplains. He remains an adjunct professor for Atlantic Union College off-campus classes. He also received his Clinical Social Worker’s License. Lois worked per diem at NEMH and again nurtured children in her home to assist with Maureen & Tim’s Adventist school tuition. In 1990 Leo had cardiac bypass surgery, and 2 years later he retired from then named Boston Regional Medical Center after nearly 25 years of Chaplaincy. But he didn’t quit working! Instead he answered a need in Williamsburg, Virginia, for a temporary Chaplain at the Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital for a year. Upon returning to Stoneham, he became a per diem family counselor under Dr. Mirna Aeschlimann’s Pediatric practice and was also requested by the local Protestant Ministerial Association to become the part-time Chaplain at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital; a position he has continued to hold for the past 15 years.

Throughout Leo’s ministry, he has performed many baptisms, weddings, funerals, and baby dedications, as well as pastoral counseling, prayers, Bible Study, and preaching, for both the Adventist and non-Adventist communities. By his side, Lois has consistently used her gifts of empathy and encouragement for shut-ins and others needing visitation or assistance, and joyfully caring for her children, grandchildren, and now great-grandsons, Dean & Luke. In every place of ministry they have been blessed and supported by so many loving friends and gratefully acknowledge how God has led them each amazing step of the way.

PS. Here's a look at finished scarf #3. It's the longest one I've done--used about 300 yards of yarn--and took just over a week.