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Sesóstris César Souza

Photo courtesy of the Brazilian White Center – UNASP.

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Souza, Sesóstris César (1915–2013)

By The Brazilian White Center – UNASP

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The Brazilian White Center – UNASP is a team of teachers and students at the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center – UNASP at the Brazilian Adventist University, Campus Engenheiro, Coelho, SP. The team was supervised by Drs. Adolfo Semo Suárez, Renato Stencel, and Carlos Flávio Teixeira. Bruno Sales Gomes Ferreira provided technical support. The following names are of team members: Adriane Ferrari Silva, Álan Gracioto Alexandre, Allen Jair Urcia Santa Cruz, Camila Chede Amaral Lucena, Camilla Rodrigues Seixas, Daniel Fernandes Teodoro, Danillo Alfredo Rios Junior, Danilo Fauster de Souza, Débora Arana Mayer, Elvis Eli Martins Filho, Felipe Cardoso do Nascimento, Fernanda Nascimento Oliveira, Gabriel Pilon Galvani, Giovana de Castro Vaz, Guilherme Cardoso Ricardo Martins, Gustavo Costa Vieira Novaes, Ingrid Sthéfane Santos Andrade, Isabela Pimenta Gravina, Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Jhoseyr Davison Voos dos Santos, João Lucas Moraes Pereira, Kalline Meira Rocha Santos, Larissa Menegazzo Nunes, Letícia Miola Figueiredo, Luan Alves Cota Mól, Lucas Almeida dos Santos, Lucas Arteaga Aquino, Lucas Dias de Melo, Matheus Brabo Peres, Mayla Magaieski Graepp, Milena Guimarães Silva, Natália Padilha Corrêa, Rafaela Lima Gouvêa, Rogel Maio Nogueira Tavares Filho, Ryan Matheus do Ouro Medeiros, Samara Souza Santos, Sergio Henrique Micael Santos, Suelen Alves de Almeida, Talita Paim Veloso de Castro, Thais Cristina Benedetti, Thaís Caroline de Almeida Lima, Vanessa Stehling Belgd, Victor Alves Pereira, Vinicios Fernandes Alencar, Vinícius Pereira Nascimento, Vitória Regina Boita da Silva, William Edward Timm, Julio Cesar Ribeiro, Ellen Deó Bortolotte, Maria Júlia dos Santos Galvani, Giovana Souto Pereira, Victor Hugo Vaz Storch, and Dinely Luana Pereira.

 

 

First Published: January 29, 2020

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Sesóstris César Souza, pastor, teacher, and writer, was born August 11, 1915, in the city of Cangati, state of Ceará, Brazil. He was the third child of Leopoldo and Maria Dourado de Souza. He had ten brothers, and three of them, Walkírio, Dourival, and João Vicente Souza, also served as workers in the Adventist Church.1

Sesóstris grew up on a small farm in the interior of Ceará where his family earned their livelihood as farmers. His parents sought to educate their children in accordance with biblical principles. Although his father had never heard of Adventism, he used to say that Scripture reveals that the day to be kept is the seventh day.2 At the age of 20 Sesóstris moved from the northeast to the city of Rio de Janeiro, seeking to better the conditions of his life. He lived with his brother and got a job in Cine Olímpia, a movie theater located in the city of Duque de Caxias. He eventually became the manager. One day his brother invited him to attend a service at the Adventist church. He was impressed to know that this church, just like his dad, preached the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath and, after learning more, he decided to follow his convictions. He quit his job at the movie theater, where he had to work on Saturdays, and on October 6, 1936, he was baptized by Pastor Gustavo Storch at Méier Adventist Church in Rio de Janeiro.3

He was happy to be living in accordance with the Bible. However, he needed a job. He decided to take a course in learning how to canvass that was being taught in his church. In 1937 he was sent to canvass in the city of Belém, state of Pará. With the money he earned he enrolled in the theology course at Brazil College and graduated in 1942. Following graduation, on December 5, he married Lilly (1915-1994), who he had met in college. Lilly contributed to preaching the gospel as a canvasser and Bible instructor. From this union were born Rute (Costa) and Irenilda (Menegusso).4

In 1943 Sesóstris accepted an invitation to work as a pastor in the North Brazil Union, where he served in the cities of Belém, state of Pará, Manaus, state of Amazonas, and São Luís, state of Maranhão. In 1945 he took a sick leave and went to the state of Rio Grande do Sul in order to recover his health. He returned in 1947 as a teacher in Petrópolis Adventist Academy. There he taught Portuguese and Latin,5 and he conducted the school’s choir, the Orfeão Petropolitano.6 In the following years he was pastor in the districts of Recife, state of Pernambuco (1950-1953)7 and Passo Fundo, state of Rio Grande do Sul (1954-1955). In 1956 he worked as principal in Adventist Taquara Academy (now Cuzeiro do Sul Adventist Academy),8 and in 1957 he became a pastor in Porto Alegre Central Church, state of Rio Grande do Sul.9 While working in this position, he helped to create and lead Federação Adventista de Mocidade Gaúcha (Young Gaúcha Adventist Federation), with the purpose of uniting young Adventists from all over the state in order to involve them in church activities.10 He was also involved in reopening a local Adventist school that had been closed for 12 years.11 In 1960 he was appointed director of the Radio Department (Voice of Prophecy), Temperance, and Public Relations Departments of the Rio Grande do Sul Conference.12

As part of his temperance work, he was one of the first to present the Five-Day Plan to Stop Smoking in South America. The plan had been presented to the Adventist Church at the 1962 General Conference Session in the United States. Longing to implement it in Latin America, Pastor Roger Wilcox, president of the South American Division, challenged the conferences in his division to use the plan. After receiving the translated material in 1964, Sesóstris taught the course in the city of Porto Alegre, one of the first places where the method was used.13

In 1964 Sesóstris accepted the invitation to be a pastor in the Curitiba Central Church. From May 26-30, 1964, he used the Five-Day Plan to Stop Smoking for the first time in the state of Paraná.14 Next he pastored the churches of Guarulhos, state of São Paulo (1967-1969), where he helped in the construction of the local church; and the Belo Horizonte Central Church, state of Minas Gerais (1969-1971), where he worked to reopen the Colorado Adventist School (now Belo Horizonte Adventist School.)15 In 1971 he was elected head of the departments of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries in the East Brazil Union Conference.16 He stayed in these positions until the next year, when he accepted the invitation to be a pastor of the Botafogo district, state of Rio de Janeiro. In this city, alongside with Dr. Milton Afonso, he implemented Telepaz telephone service, that provided Christian psychological counseling. He stayed there until his retirement in 1976.17

After retiring, Sesóstris moved to the city of São Paulo and became director of the Philanthropy Department of Golden Cross, a health insurance company founded by Dr. Milton Afonso. Under his administration, 15 orphanages for girls were built in Brazil. He worked in this position until 1996, when he retired once again. With more free time, he started writing religious books. He wrote the following: Anjos: Sua Presença e Atuação na Vida Humana, Experimente Jesus, O Ministério dos Anjos, and Manancial de Experiências Inéditas.18 In recognition of his literary work, in 200219 the City Council of Hortolândia, state of São Paulo, gave him the title of Writer Emeritus, which they said was due to the esteem in which he was held as an excellent writer.20 Lilly had died in 1994, so in 2002 he married Salvadora Schlemper Souza.21 Sesóstris died on May 19, 2013, at the age of 97, in the city of São Paulo. He gave 33 years of service to the Adventist Church and 20 years to philanthropic activities. He contributed to the training of leaders in several areas of the denomination.22

Sources

Arthur S. Valle. “Manchetes do Paraná.” Revista Adventista, year 59, September 1964, 25. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Arthur S. Valle. “Notas e Notícias Paulistas.” Revista Adventista, year 66, June 1971, 32. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Arthur S. Valle. “O Templo de Curitiba: Esforço de Toda Igreja.” Revista Adventista, year 64, August 1969, 21-22. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Arthur S. Valle. “Plano de Cinco Dias em Curitiba.” Revista Adventista, year 59, October 1964, 28. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Campolongo, Alcides. Evangelismo: Minha Paixão. Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2009.

De Souza, Sesóstris C. “Breve Relato de Minha Vida.” In: Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, edited by Tercio Sarli, 441-450. Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007.

De Souza, Sesóstris C. “Dois jovens desanimam.” Revista Adventista, year 88, March 1992, 16. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

De Souza, Sesóstris C. Experimente Jesus. Niterói, RJ: Editora ADOS, 2000.

De Souza, Sesóstris C. “História Que Mudou o Destino de Uma Criança.” Revista Adventista, year 88, March 1989, 16. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

De Souza, Sesóstris C. “Plano de 5 Dias.” Revista Adventista, year 59, March 1964, 26. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

“Faleceu Pastor Sesóstris Souza.” Notícias Adventistas (Online), May 20, 2013.

“Lily de Souza.” Revista Adventista, year 89, October 1994, 45. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Moisés S. Nigri. “Bienais Sulinas.” Revista Adventista, year 55, May 1960, 25-26. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Moisés S. Nigri. “The Five-Day Plan.” South American Division Bulletin, year 41, n. 1-2, January-June 1965, 6-7. Accessed January 11, 2017, http://docs.adventistarchives.org/docs/SAB/SAB19650101-V41-01,02__B.pdf#view=fit.

Ritter, Oscar. “O que é a Federação Adventista da Mocidade Gaúcha?” Revista Adventista, year 56, September 1961, 32. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Rubens S. Lessa. “Pioneiro Fala Sobre o Prazer de Servir.” Revista Adventista, year 89, July, 4-6. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957-58. Accessed August 1, 2017. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Silas F. Lima. “A Mocidade Recifense.” Revista Adventista, year 48, November 1953, 11. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb.

Will, Valdemar. “Excursão do Orfeão Petropolitano a Belo Horizonte.” Revista Adventista, year 42, November 1947, 9-10. Accessed May 16, 2016, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br/capas.cpb

Notes

  1. “Faleceu Pastor Sesóstris Souza,” Notícias Adventistas, May 20, 2013, accessed May 16, 2016, http://noticias.adventistas.org/pt/noticia/institucional/faleceu-pastor-sesostris-cezar/; and Sesóstris César de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” in Minha Vida de Pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, org. Tércio Sarli, (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007), 441, 447.↩

  2. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 442.↩

  3. Rubens S. Lessa, “Pioneiro Fala Sobre o Prazer de Servir,” Revista Adventista, year 89, July 1993, 4-6; and de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 441-443.↩

  4. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 442-443, 447; and “Lily de Souza,” Revista Adventista, year 89, October 1994, 45.↩

  5. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 443-444.↩

  6. Valdemar Will, “Excursão do Orfeão Petropolitano a Belo Horizonte,” Revista Adventista, year 42, November 1947, 9.↩

  7. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 444.↩

  8. “Rio Grande do Sul Academy,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957), 240.↩

  9. “Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 157, 436.↩

  10. Oscar Ritter, “O que é a Federação Adventista da Mocidade Gaúcha?” Revista Adventista, year 56, September 1961, 32.↩

  11. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 444.↩

  12. Moisés S. Nigri, “Bienais Sulinas,” Revista Adventista, year 55, May 1960, 25-26.↩

  13. M. S. Nigri, “The Five-Day Plan,” South American Division Bulletin, year 41, n. 1-2, January-June 1965, 6; Sesóstris C. de Souza, “Plano de 5 Dias,” Revista Adventista, year 59, March 1964, 26-27; de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 446; and Alcides Campolongo, Evangelismo: Minha Paixão (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2009), 62-63, 72.↩

  14. Arthur S. Valle, “Manchetes do Paraná,” Revista Adventista, year 59, September 1964, 25; and Arthur S. Valle, “Plano de Cinco Dias em Curitiba,” Revista Adventista, year 59, October 1964, 28.↩

  15. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 444-445.↩

  16. Arthur S. Valle, “Notas e Notícias Paulistas,” Revista Adventista, year 66, June 1971, 32.↩

  17. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 442.↩

  18. Ibid., 449-450.↩

  19. Sesóstris César de Souza, Experimente Jesus (Niterói, RJ: Editora ADOS, 2000), 48.↩

  20. de Souza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 450.↩

  21. Ibid., 447.↩

  22. “Faleceu pastor Sesóstris Souza,” Notícias Adventistas, May 20, 2013, accessed May 16, 2016, http://noticias.adventistas.org/pt/noticia/institucional/faleceu-pastor-sesostris-cezar/.↩

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UNASP, The Brazilian White Center –. "Souza, Sesóstris César (1915–2013)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=8GPI.

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UNASP, The Brazilian White Center –. "Souza, Sesóstris César (1915–2013)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=8GPI.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

UNASP, The Brazilian White Center – (2020, January 29). Souza, Sesóstris César (1915–2013). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=8GPI.

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