Ahmed - Ishak & Suja

"He led me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake" Psalm 23:3
I was born and brought up in a Muslim village in the Cachar district of Assam, India, where Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries had set up their mission center. My father was called to translate some tracts into Manipuri in early 1950s. This contact eventually led my father to accept Christ as his personal savior. He was persecuted severely by the Muslims for his stand for Christ because he was the only son of the greatest Muslim Imam (priest) in our tribe. God preserved his life in the midst of this persecution and this enabled my father to guide us in "the path of righteousness" through regular family devotions. Out of 8 siblings 7 of us are saved and serving the Lord in different capacities.
I studied in a Muslim school which means I had weekly holidays on Fridays (Muslim day of prayer). On Fridays my father took me to the mission where Miss Rachel Funk was engaged in translating the Bible into Manipuri. She taught me Bible from a book titled Bible Stories for Little Eyes by Kenneth Taylor and I looked forward to Fridays to hear the Bible story. Miss Funk became our Epi (grandmother) since she realized the plight of a Muslim convert. Her investment in our lives has paid rich dividends as we 7 continue to stand for the Lord and serve Him. My spiritual foundation was laid by my father at home and Miss Funk at the mission. However, it did not save me. Upon conviction of my sinful state after hearing a preaching at Alipur Baptist Church on the last Sunday of March 1976 I accepted Christ as my personal Savior.
I wanted to become a doctor and help continue the BMM medical ministry in Assam. God helped me to qualify for admission at Silchar Medical College and I joined the medical college in 1981.Some of the senior Muslim students advised me to reconvert to Islam. It was difficult for me to handle that situation and I chose to lose the medical seat than to lose Christ. I returned home and then continued my studies at St. Anthony's College in Shillong, graduating with First Class Honors in Chemistry. Then I joined the Biochemistry department of North Eastern Hills University. Further studies included a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1993 and Post Doctoral Research at University of Helsinki. While In Helsinki the President and GM of Dr. Reddy's Research Foundation, Hyderabad came to meet me and told me that I will have a job at their research foundation upon my return to India. So I returned to India in 1995 and joined the Reddy's. While at the Reddy's in Hyderabad I worked among the university students and made my house a center for student ministry.
In 1996 I was invited to be part of the ministry of the Northeast India Baptist Bible College at Silchar. Uncle Paul Versluis invited me to USA in the autumn of 1997 and introduced me to churches to regain support of the Bible College. The ministry of the Bible College continues with about 75 students each year. So far we have trained more than 500 graduates who are serving the Lord in India, Myanmar and Nepal as pastors. missionaries, church leaders and Christian school teachers. We were able to begin Campus Bible Fellowship to serve other schools and Grace High School, Tarapur to educate rural children.I also oversee the ministry of Christian Literature Houses Society, which spreads the Gospel in printed form and helped start churches in three prominent cities of North East India.