Paraiso (Paraïso), Georges Comlavi (1936–2008)
By Kossi-Ekao Amouzou
Kossi-Ekao Amouzou is a Seventh-day Adventist minister. He is the immediate past director of the Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Tamale, Ghana. Currently, he is the Ministerial secretary and Family Ministries director for the North Ghana Mission. Pastor Amouzou is married to Delali Tendar. They have three children.
First Published: October 26, 2023
Georges Comlavi Paraïso was the founding elder of the second Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lomé, Togo. A great singer, he founded the first Adventist quartet in Togo and played a pioneering role in Adventist music in Togo. In addition, he was a staunch church planter as his efforts helped to establish the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the eastern part of the Togolese capital city, Lome, and its environs.
Early Life, Education, and Marriage
Georges Comlavi Paraïso was of Afro-Brazilian descent. He was born on June 16, 1936, in Lome, Togo.1 His father, Augusto Sergio Paraïso (1895-1974), and mother, Cecile Aguiar (1900-1980), were both descendants of Afro-Brazilians who settled on the West African coast in the middle of the nineteenth century.2 Both his parents were Roman Catholics. Georges Comlavi was the last of a family of four children. His older siblings included Clara, Jeanette, and Antoine Paraïso.3
Georges Comlavi Paraïso spent his early childhood in Lome and later in Sokodé, the central regional capital, where his father was transferred to as an Agricultural Quality Control officer. In 1943, Georges Comlavi started his primary school education at Sokodé Primary School, and successfully completed that level as he obtained the valued Primary School Education Certificate (CEPE) in 1950. He then enrolled in a driving school and became a licensed driver in 1953.4
In 1970, Georges Paraïso married Bernadette Adjoavi Dossou (1946-1998).5 They had five children, and one died at a tender age. Their surviving children included Ezechiel, who became a headmaster at Trindade Cleber Adventist School in Niamey, Niger; Joel, a forwarding agent; Rachel, and Hermine--both businesspersons in Lome.6
Conversion
From 1959 to 1970, Georges Paraïso worked at the Hotel Le Benin, and from 1970 to 1987, at Dywito, as a driver and courier at both places. When he left Dywito in 1987, the Togo Mission engaged him as the in-charge person of the “La Voix de l’Espérance,” the French version of the Voice of Hope Bible correspondence course. He served in that capacity until his retirement in the year 2000.7
In the 1960s, Paraïso joined one of the Aladura churches, the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim. His first encounter with Seventh-day Adventists was in 1971 through one of his friends and a fellow member of the Holy Order. That friend, Mr. Mathey, who was also known as Monsieurvi, had then left the Order. This friend connected Georges Paraïso to Pastor Roland Fidelia, the then-Togo Mission president, together with future Pastor Gilbert Comlan Segla. For some months, the two pastors had face-to-face Bible studies with Paraïso, then through La Voix de l’Espérance Bible lessons. All these convinced and prepared Paraïso for a deeper and more meaningful Christian experience within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.8
On September 1, 1973, Pastor Paul Heise, the new president of the Togo Mission, baptized Georges Paraïso into the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lome. That Sabbath was a special day in what was then the Lome Church. Only two people stood for baptism: Georges Comlavi Paraïso and Emmanuel Ayite Ahyee. These two men were long-time friends; they had been for many years members of the same local branch of the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim, and they became Adventists the same day.9
Shortly after their baptisms, Georges Paraïso and Emmanuel Ahyee, together with David Kokou Adzo and Kokou Gbete, formed the first quartet in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Togo. They named it “La Voix de l’Espérance” in recognition of the Bible correspondence course that led their path to Adventism. Georges Paraïso was an exceptional bass singer; the tone and vibrations of his voice impressed everyone who heard him sing. He led La Voix de l’Espérance to sing in many church events, especially during evangelistic campaigns in Togo10 and sometimes in the neighboring country of Benin.11
Paraïso and the La Voix de l’Espérance quartet attended the first International Youth Congress for the West African Union held from August 28-September 1, 1974, in Accra, Ghana.12 In 1978, they performed brilliantly in the Lome Church, when the newly elected General Conference president, Neal C. Wilson, visited Lome and the West African Union for the first time.13 Paraïso was instrumental in the formation of the Lome Adventist Church choir in the late ’70s. When the Togo Mission decided to translate the French hymnal into the Ewe language, Georges Paraïso was selected as a member of the Translation Committee.14 In 1986, he and his fellow elder Mensah Expédit started the Be-Kpota Church choir. He was also a founding member and adviser of the now-defunct Echo des 3 Anges Choir, a central choir for the Togo Mission established in 1994.15
Ordained as a local church elder in 1980, Georges Comlavi Paraïso played a vital role in the spread of Seventh-day Adventism in Lome and its environs. As a church elder, he actively participated in the first mega-outdoor campaign of the Togo Mission dubbed, “Vivre Plus” by Pastor Fred Durban in January 1985 in Lome. In March 1986, he led a group of believers to leave the Lome Central Church and to form a new company in Be-Kpota, a suburb of Lome, the capital city of Togo.16 Within a short period, that company experienced exponential growth, leading to its organization into a Church that same year, and Georges Paraïso was appointed as the first elder. In April 1988, the Church moved to its permanent place at Anfame. Thus, the Paraïso-led group, the Be-Anfame Church, became the first offspring of the Lome Central Church.17
From the church in Anfame sprang up many churches in the eastern part of Lome and its environs. Georges Paraïso played a key role in the planting of these new local churches--first as a church elder, then as a leader of an evangelistic and prayer group called “Groupe de Midi.” Beginning from 1989, they planted churches in the following towns and communities: Baguida, Ablogame (which became Be-Château), Lebe, Abobo, Kagome, Aveta, Akodessewa, Dekpo, Adakpame, Togo 2000, Kpogan, Attiegou, Nyamadji, Djagble, Kpessi, Denouvime, Dabadakondji, and Adamavor.18
Later Life and Legacy
Georges Comlavi Paraïso retired from denominational employment in the year 2000, having served the Church for 13 years as the director of La Voix de l’Espérance Bible Correspondence Course. In his retirement years, he devoted himself to a deeper prayer life and extensive evangelistic activities. A passionate Bible teacher, he helped many church members to better understand the Scriptures and the writings of Ellen G. White. On February 8, 2008, Elder Georges Paraïso passed on at the Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital in Afagnan after a short illness. His funeral took place on February 11, 2008. He was buried in the Be-Kpota Cemetery in Lome. His four children survived him.19
Elder Georges Comlavi Paraïso left a precious legacy behind. He is remembered as the founding elder of the second Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lome, as a great singer, and the founder of the first Adventist quartet in Togo. A passionate evangelist, he was instrumental in the establishment of many local churches in the eastern part of Lome and its environs. In all, George Comlavi Paraïso was a great lay leader in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Togo.
Sources
“Adjoavi Bernadette Paraïso nee Dossou obituary.” Copy in the personal collection of the author, October 11, 1998.
“Augusto Sergio Paraïso Obituary.” Georges Paraïso family collection, July 6, 1974.
“Youth Congress for West Africa.” West African Advent Messenger, December 1, 1973.
Acervo Aguda the Brazilians of Benin. “The Paraiso Family.” acervoaguda.com.br n.d. Accessed June 15, 2023. http://acervoaguda.com.br/en/conjuntos-tematicos/the-paraiso-family.
Alcione, M. Amos. “Afro-Brazilians in Togo: The Case of the Olympio Family, 1882-1945,” Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol. 41, Cahier 162 (2001), 293-314.
Association Togolaise des Adventistes du 7eme Jour. Hadzigbale -Adventist Hame (Lome, 1990).
Echo des 3 Anges. Statuts et Règlement Intérieur. Lome, February 4, 1994.
Fidelia Roland. “Accra Youth Congress.” West African Advent Messenger, February 1, 1975.
Fidelia Roland. “Neal C. Wilson Receives a Cordial Welcome in Togo and Ghana.” West African Advent Messenger, June 1, 1978.
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Sabbath School Department. 9 min. Togo-Mission Spotlight, 1979. Videocassette.
Lombart Claude. “Benin’s Special Day.” West African Advent Messenger, April 1, 1979.
Marenus De Paula. “Employment Agreement – Paraïso.” (Lome, September 1, 1987).
République Togolaise. Certificat de Nationalité Togolaise. Georges Paraïso family archives, Lomé, Togo.
Seventh-day Adventist Church Be-Anfame. 25th Anniversary Celebration Program. Lome, December 17, 2011.
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.
Notes
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République Togolaise, Certificat de Nationalité Togolaise no. 5121/MJ (21 Aout 1973), Comlavi Paraïso, Georges Paraïso family archives, Lomé, Togo.↩
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Acervo Aguda. “The Paraiso Family.” acervoaguda.com.br n.d. Accessed June 15, 2023. http://acervoaguda.com.br/en/conjuntos-tematicos/the-paraiso-family. See also Amos M. Alcione, “Afro-Brazilians in Togo: The Case of the Olympio Family, 1882-1945,” Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol. 41, Cahier 162 (2001), 299. In his work, Alcione discussed about other Afro-Brazilian origins of many other families including the Aguiar family.↩
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“Augusto Sergio Paraïso obituary,” Georges Paraïso family collection, July 6, 1974, 2.↩
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Ezechiel Kiki Comlavi Paraïso (Georges Paraïso’s son), interview by the author, Niamey, Niger, June 21, 2023.↩
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“Adjoavi Bernadette Paraïso nee Dossou obituary,” copy in the personal collection of the author, October 11, 1998, 1.↩
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Joel Kafui Paraïso (Georges Paraïso’s youngest son), interview by the author, Lome, June 15, 2023.↩
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Marenus De Paula, President Togo Mission of Seventh-day Adventist Church “Employment Agreement – Paraïso” (Lome, September 1, 1987), 1.↩
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Emmanuel Ayite Ahyee, interview by the author, Lome, June 15, 2023.↩
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Ibid.↩
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General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Sabbath School Department, 9 min., Togo-Mission Spotlight, 1979, videocassette.↩
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For example, Mission President M. Cherenfant and his wife traveled with La Voix de l’Espérance Quartet to Cotonou, Benin, for baptism on Sabbath June 23, 1979. See Claude Lombart, “Benin’s Special Day,” West African Advent Messenger, April 1, 1979, 10. Until 1987, Benin and Togo formed one Mission known first as Togo-Benin Mission; see “Benin Mission Station,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988), 50.↩
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Emmanuel Ayite Ahyee, interview by the author, Lome, June 15, 2023. See also Roland Fidelia, “Accra Youth Congress,” West African Advent Messenger, February 1, 1975, 6-7; and “Youth Congress for West Africa,” West African Advent Messenger, December 1, 1973, 1.↩
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Roland Fidelia, “Neal C. Wilson Receives a Cordial Welcome in Togo and Ghana,” West African Advent Messenger, June 1, 1978, 1-4.↩
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Association Togolaise des Adventistes du 7eme Jour, Hadzigbale -Adventist Hame, (Lome, 1990), 3. Ewe is the language of the people of southern Togo.↩
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Echo des 3 Anges, Statuts et Règlement Intérieur, (Lome, February 4, 1994).↩
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Expedit Mensah (elder and host of the church), interview by the author, Lome, June 23, 2023.↩
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Seventh-day Adventist Church Be-Anfame, 25th Anniversary Celebration Program, Lome, December 17, 2011.↩
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George Kossi-Ekao Amouzou, personal knowledge from being a church member at Be-Anfame, and the Lome-Est District Secretary from 2002-2005.↩
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Ezechiel Kiki Comlavi Paraïso, interview by the author, Niamey, Niger, June 21, 2023.↩