Josue Rangel: Overcoming fear to help others

As a volunteer in Hispanic ministries through St. Anne Church in Berryville, Josue Rangel shows people how to overcome their fears over expressing their faith openly. He’s particularly good at it, largely because he knows exactly how they feel.

“Whenever I was younger, I would always think how can I talk to someone or help someone that’s older than I am,” said Rangel, 23, a criminal justice major at North Arkansas College in Harrison. “For me, it was always that shyness and that being afraid of having to talk to someone that was older because I always thought that someone who was older had to help me with what to do, to give me advice.”

Through volunteering in Busqueda (Search) and more recently Encuentros de Promoción Juvenil (Encounters of Youth Promotion), both of which he participated in when he was younger, Rangel overcame his shyness with the help of grace and family. He doesn’t hesitate to share his story.

“My mom would always tell me don’t be afraid, God’s always going to be there for you,” he said. “My dad (Deacon Elias Rangel Flores) as well, he would always tell me look, only because you’re younger than somebody doesn’t mean that you can’t speak out and tell your mind. That’s what mostly got me to put my shyness and fear away.

“So that’s why I decided to help,” he said. “Because of my life experiences, I can talk to somebody who’s a little bit older and tell them, ‘Hey, be careful with what you do and remember that whatever you do, God will never forget about you.’”

 

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

“If I could live anywhere in the world it would be Brazil because of the culture and language. And yes, also because they play beautiful soccer there.”

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