View source for Solomon, Stephen N. (b. 1914)

Stephen N Solomon, a teacher in Mennonite schools in [[Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh State, India)|Dhamtari]], Madhya Pradesh (M.P.), and minister in the [[Mennonite Church in India|Mennonite Church in India]], was born 14 April 1914 in Jagdalpur, Bastar District, M.P., India. He was the son of Samedas and Bitawan Solomon. His father died when Stephen was very young and his mother took him to Dhamtari where he was admitted to the boys' orphanage of the American Mennonite Mission. Stephen completed high school in 1935, taught for two years in the mission normal school and tutored new missionaries in language study. In 1946 he received BA and BEd degrees from the University of Calcutta. He returned to Dhamtari and taught Hindi at the Mennonite Higher Secondary School until his retirement in 1976. He married [[Solomon, Phoebe Sheela (Bisahu) (b. 1917)|Phoebe Bisahu]] in 1942. They had four daughters and one son.

Stephen was a prolific writer and a good musician, composing songs, writing dramas, and translating ca. 60 books and booklets for the North India Christian Tract and Book Society and the Masihi Sahitya Sanstha. He edited the conference paper, <em>Mennonait Mandli Samachar Patrika </em>for several years, and was a regular member of the Mennonite Literature and Audio Visual Board. He served on the panel of translators for the Bible Society of India's new Hindi translation of the [[Bible  |Bible]]. In 1947 he was ordained deacon in the Sundarganj congregation and in 1970 was ordained a minister to serve as co-pastor. In retirement he has assisted as pastor in several congregations. He was conference secretary for two terms and in 1948 was delegate for the Mennonite Church in India (MC) at the [[Mennonite World Conference|Mennonite World Conference]] in the [[United States of America|United States]].
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