From the Community: Noor an Arabic American Worship Service Comes to Calvary Church in Orland Park

posted on: Apr 1, 2018

SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE

By Community Contributor Mary Compton Photos

According to the Arab-American Institute, 63% of Arab-Americans are Christians.

It was this number and a lack of Arab-American Christian churches in the south suburbs that Dr. Lawrence Haddad, an Orland Park resident and optometrist felt the Lord calling him to preach the Gospel.

On Easter Sunday, Calvary Church in Orland Park will open it’s doors at 1PM and begin a new path to offer an Arab-American service.

“The Lord put it on my heart to start something, said Dr. Haddad. “That was the vision and desire when I came to the Lord in 1999. We started a home bible study, which grew into a small church. At the end of that we couldn’t take it any farther. I thought I need more training so I spent three years getting my Masters of Arts and Biblical studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. In May I graduated, so I’ve been on this search to find this perfect marriage of a church that would partner with us.

No doors were open until I contacted Pastor Ron Citlau, from Calvary Church in Orland Park. He said ” How about we partner?” It was seven months of planning and now we have a service called Noor. It means glorious light. Like the sun coming out in the morning,”

“Having the first service on Easter, what we were doing had died five years ago. The Lord has a thing for rising up dead things. When it’s in His hands, nothing is over. He is the resurrection and the Light. How beautiful that our first service is on Easter,” Dr. Haddad added.

The Beginnings

Coming from Jordan at the age of four, Dr. Haddad tells his story on growing up.

“When we came to the United States, we moved to the Southeast side of Chicago called Hegewisch,” begins Dr. Haddad. “I lived there until I was thirty years old then moved to Orland Park.”

Jordanian Arab-Christians number around 221,000 in Jordan according to a 2014 estimate by the Orthodox Church. Jordan also contains some of the oldest Christian Communities in the world.

“I grew up in the Arabic-Christian community. We are Christian Arabs,” said Dr. Haddad. “Christianity came 600 years before Islam. We never converted to Islam. We stayed Christian all throughout. I come from historic Christian community.”

Christians and Muslim brothers live in unity in Jordan. It is also home to biblical sites such as Al-Maghtas where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and Machaerus which is a hilltop overlooking the Dead Sea where John the Baptist was in prison killed. Such history is very important from the people who come from Jordan.

“When people hear that I’m Arabic and a Christian, they think I converted from Islam, which I did not,” Pastor Haddad explains. “When we grew up, I grew up as a Christian Arab in the Catholic community, which is a wonderful community,” added Dr. Haddad.

“As a young adult, I was in love with the world and in love with my life I didn’t want anything to change it or disrupt it. I wanted to go to school and have a nice house and live the way I wanted. I was the god of my own life and didn’t want anything to disrupt it. The Lord took me to a place when I was 25 years old when he brought me to the end of myself. I was in a dark place, a troubled time in my life where I didn’t understand what was happening. It was a sad deep dark place that I entered, I couldn’t get out of it, ” said Dr. Haddad.

“At that point I was graduating optometry school, things were good, ” said Dr. Haddad. ” I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get myself out of this pit. . I really had no more taste for life. I lost my interest in everything. I had no joy period.”

The Transformation

“As I got to the end of myself, where I couldn’t take the darkness, I went out and bought a nice car, Dr. Haddad explains. “The more I did, I became more empty. The deeper I dug the pit, some days I couldn’t get out of bed. That’s when I got to the point. Some people get transformed instantly, for me it was a four month transformation. I started seeing colors differently and food tasted differently.”

I got to the point of saying if God is real, if the Lord Jesus is real, He would be the only one to take me out of this.

I started to read the New Testament nightly, one chapter at a time. As I read, I got to the part in Luke where it says ” You being evil you know how to bring good gifts, just imagine how much the heavenly father gives you if you ask. So I said ” Lord you’ve given the Holy Spirit and you want us to ask, heavenly Father please give me the Holy Spirit and change my life. Get me out this darkness, get me out of this terrible place that I’m in I can’t take it anymore.”

The next two, to four months, the Lord completely transformed my life.

“I found my joy again. He found me. He got me out of that place and began to work on me instantly. I knew now what is expected of me and I’m no longer the god of my life. I obey and I follow Him. He gives me eternal life. The new life starts right now. Jesus said I give you life and more abundantly,” added Dr. Haddad.

“This is a true life a true joy, not the love of the world,” said Dr. Haddad.

After this experience, Dr. Lawrence Haddad’s life was changed forever.

On Easter Sunday, Calvary Church in Orland Park opened their doors and their hearts for Arab-Americans to worship every Sunday at 1PM.

“Everything is going to be geared to the Arab American, ” explains Dr. Haddad. “Anybody who is Christian or Muslim in the area have been invited to this Noor service. We’re going to have some cultural aspects, Arabic worship music, two or three English worship songs and a biblical message will be given by me, in English. We will close with an English or Arabic worship song. Once in awhile we will bring an Arabic speaking Pastor to preach in Arabic for the older generation. We’re primarily reaching out to Arabic Christians and people who don’t know the depth of Christ and what He has to offer us,” added Dr. Haddad.

‘There is nowhere you can go to hide from the Lord, ” Dr. Haddad said. He is everywhere. All the believers in the world are the body of Christ. Local churches are the local body of Christ, with arms and feet and a heart.

“Here I am Lord, I’m ready,” said Dr. Haddad.

Calvary Church is located at 16100 S. 104th Avenue in Orland Park. For information you can contact by phone 708-429-2200 or website www.calvaryop.org

Calvary Church Sunday Services are at 9AM, 10:30AM and now the Noor Service at 1PM.