Najeeb Azar: The Story of a Middle Eastern Adventist Minister

[Humble_Disciple]

Najeeb Azar was the president of the Seventh-Day Adventists' Jordanian Mission. When he immigrated to the United States, the official Adventist church wouldn't provide him a job, so he became a successful small businessman instead.

The number of enterprises has risen and fallen over the years, but the Azar family's holdings have included two restaurants, five gas station-convenience stores and 19 rental properties spread across Spokane.

Najeeb Azar was president of the Seventh-day Adventist's Jordanian Mission. A minister, Najeeb was active in building churches and schools for thousands of Seventh-day Adventists sprinkled throughout the predominantly Muslim Middle East...

The Azars' immigration was sponsored by Najla's brother, a doctor in Los Angeles, but the family decided it would be better to raise the children in Spokane, near Najla's sister in Tekoa. Another of Najla's brothers, Foad Elaimy, came to Spokane several years later and opened the Niko's restaurants.

Najeeb assumed he'd find work as a Seventh-day Adventist minister, but when he arrived in Spokane, he was told no job was available...

...it became apparent the Seventh-day Adventists would not hire Najeeb. Disillusioned, the couple decided to start a business, in part to guarantee employment for them and their family.

They investigated running a group home for the developmentally disabled and buying a laundromat, but buying a 7-Eleven was the first opportunity that came up, in 1978.

"7-Eleven treated us better than the Seventh-day Adventists," said Najla wryly.
https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/1999/01-
15/0080_an_american_tale__finding_peace__.html

After being apparently turned away from the Adventist church, his family became Orthodox Christians, as the majority of Christians were in their native Jordan.

Nonetheless, he wrote a book before he died chronicling his work as an Adventist missionary:
https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Jesus-miracles-Christian-preaching/dp/1425917135

 

[BobRyan]

Interesting story thanks for sharing it. I know of a Romanian Adventist pastor that immigrated to the South Eastern U.S. hoping to find a Pastoral position here but was not hired by the local conference.

The normal way that pastors get hired in the U.S. is that a congregation or a district of congregations find themselves missing a pastor and need the conference to find one. At that point the congregations will interview various candidates that the conference presents. So if the conference is not reaching out to someone outside the U.S. to get them to immigrate and fill a position, or tapping someone who is already pastoring in the U.S. it is often because they don't have positions to fill with budget approval.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Sorry I know this is a duplicate but I meant to post this in the Traditional Adventist forum and not the progressive forum.

Who knows what really happened. I’m not familiar with this person or story. Regardless of what he felt happened in the SDA church our obligation is to God and not people. Many people who no longer want to keep the 4th commandment and God’s Sabbath day holy for various reasons, look to find fault at the church. We should not go to church on the Sabbath for people, we go to worship our Savior on the day He deemed His holy Sabbath. That’s my two cents, but like I stated I am not familiar with him or his story. I personally would never change the day I worshipped our Savior over my feelings being hurt, I would find another Sabbath church to attend or find a way to work though the issue. God bless!