Junior Manuel Barrantes is a Walton scholar, Pi Theta Phi beau, member of Sigma Nu Epsilon, vice president of the Multicultural Student Action Committee, leader of weekly Spanish devotionals and an officer for Smiles for Christ. Not to mention, he is also a global economic development and management double major.
Barrantes said it is not easy to balance all of his responsibilities, but as an international student, he recognizes the rarity of these opportunities and wants to be in involved in as much as he can.
“I really want to use the leadership skills that God has blessed me with and develop them,” Barrantes said. “I think everything I do is a way to worship God because you do not need to be a minister or preacher or go to Africa to worship God. You can do it wherever you are in the way you are doing it.”
Barrantes has already used his skills in many other countries working across South America last summer. Over spring break, he added Jamaica to his list of visited countries as a leader for a mission trip that went to work in Clarendon, Jamaica.
Junior Kristhel Vargas, a fellow Walton scholar and close friend of Barrantes’, also attended the mission trip. Vargas said Barrantes worked hard to make the trip a good experience for everyone.
“He is a really spiritual guy, and I think that motivates him to keep going,” Vargas said. “He is passionate about people and is someone you know you can trust and open your heart up to.”
Dr. Bill Richardson, Bible professor and a personal mentor of Barrantes’, has also worked with Barrantes in other countries, traveling with him in South America. Richardson said that he thinks something that makes Barrantes different is not only his passion for spreading God’s kingdom, but also that he is doing so many things well after crossing cultures and languages.
“I really think that sets any of our international students apart,” Richardson said. “People do not know to give them credit for the fact that they have gone through culture shock and they have adapted to a whole different set of rules at the university level and in a second language. I think that is amazing.”
Barrantes also said that being so far from his family and loved ones in Nicaragua is another reason that he keeps involved in many activities.
“I try to see my family as being at Harding,” Barrantes said. “That is one of the reasons I keep myself busy. I start thinking of new things to do instead of thinking of home, and it is working because I am really happy with everything.”
Barrantes will work in the Philippines and Nicaragua this summer and also hopes to run for a Student Association position next year.
