GCU TODAY • 2 3
A young Lokossou poses for a photo in his army
uniform in Togo’s capital city, Lomé. He served
as a corporal and bodyguard to the former
president.
photo courtesy of komi
lokossou
anti-democratic rebels wished to
assassinate.
Lokossou was warned that
men were coming to kill him for
supporting the president. After brief
goodbyes, he fled. He crept between
houses until he reached his brother,
who drove him to the outskirts of
town on his motorcycle.
By midnight, they reached the
city limits — the farthest his brother
could go. Rebel camps bordered the
city, and the engine roar would give
them away. So Lokossou ran. He hid
in bushes and swam through rivers.
He ran for three days straight —
nearly 231 miles — stopping only to
pillage food from farms he passed.
After reaching the Benin border, he
ran to an American Red Cross outpost,
where he pleaded for the rescue of his
wife and children.
“My wife tell me that rebels have
my son, who was a baby, and hold him
by his feet with a knife and tell her that if she
does not tell themwhere I am they will kill him,”
Lokossou said.
“Thank God they did not hurt my child. I
believed God had saved me and would deliver us
to the Promise Land as He delivered His people
from Egypt.”
Within a week, his family joined him and
more than 1,000 refugees in a small protected
community.
Perseverance, then deliverance
The family’s seven years in Benin were difficult.
Rebels attempted to kill him six times. For a
short time, Lokossou and his family — by then
seven children — lived in a small, cramped
tent. Most days he begged for food, and often
the family went hungry.
After a couple years, he earned a nursing
degree and opened a small clinic through
Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.
Over time, the attempts on his life and poor
living conditions became overwhelming.
Lokossou borrowed money from the Red Cross,
more than $10,000 that he would eventually
repay, and brought his family to Phoenix.
Life here proved difficult at first. His
nursing degree wasn’t accepted by American
companies. He worked low-paying security
and factory jobs to support his family and
pay for his college. After hard work and
determination, he landed a job at GCU in 2012.
GCU Dean of Students Pastor Tim Griffin
and Lokossou met soon after, and they talk on
campus weekly. Griffin said Lokossou is one of
the most genuine people he knows.
“Whenever I’m showing a parent or employee
campus, I make sure to introduce them to Komi,”
Griffin said. “I’m sure they think, ‘Why is he
introducing me to a security guard?’ Then he
speaks and they can see what a guy like Komi
means to GCU.
“It’s neat to have someone on campus
who, when you dig into his past and learn of
his hardships, you can see God’s love and joy
reflected in him. It would be great if we could
have 100 Komis on campus.”
Delivered fromdeath—again
Lokossou now considers America, and GCU in
general, the Promise Land delivered by God.
Once he got to GCU, he believed his hardships
had ended. But after only a fewmonths, he
briefly died.
Similar to his brush with death in Togo, the
day of Lokossou’s accident was just like any other.
He returned home from his shift at GCU and lit
a charcoal grill to cook dinner near the backyard
guest room. He was home alone and rested on
the bed inside as the meat cooked. Smoke from
the grill filled the room, and he fell into a coma.
Lokossou’s son found him later that day,
unconscious and not breathing. He was
pronounced dead after three days in the coma
but awoke shortly after. He lost his sight,
hearing, ability to speak and feeling in his left
arm but, within three months, all of it had
returned. Lokossou immediately returned to
work and enrolled in classes. People at GCU
were overjoyed he was alive.
“He took 10 years offmy life,” said GCU
Director of Public Safety Henry Griffin, who
hired Lokossou. “He never complains. If you ask
me what comes to mind when I think of Komi,
it’s that he always has a Christian heart.”
Blessings a ‘reason to smile’
Lokossou looks at his past hardships as a way to
connect with GCU students seeking God.
Every morning before his shift, he detours
to the College of Theology Prayer Chapel to
organize the room and pray. He welcomes
everyone he passes with a smile and offers
advice and prayer to students in need.
Courage Chirandu, a senior from Zimbabwe,
Africa, considers Lokossou a second father.
They met earlier this year in the Prayer Chapel.
Chirandu, 23, felt estranged from his biological
father in Africa and went to the Chapel to seek
guidance. Lokossou shared his story and offered
Chirandu advice.
He considers Lokossou a Godsend.
“Komi always has a smile and kind words to
fix whatever is wrong in your life,” Chirandu
said. He reconnected with his father the night
after meeting Lokossou.
“If you knew his story, you wouldn’t think that
(he has a reason to smile), but he always is.”
Lokossou wants to continue to serve as a
father figure to students seeking guidance. He
hopes his story will encourage others to praise
God for the blessings in their lives.
“I want to take a positive step and do good
things today so others have a positive future and
do God’s work tomorrow,” Lokossou said with
a smile.
“I have no reason not to smile. God has put
so many blessings in my life. Yes, I have been
through so much. But why would I not smile?”
