Apostle Arturo Rangel
1920 - Unknown
The Vanished but not Forgotten...
Arturo Rangel Sosa, the third Apostle of our Missionary Church of the Disciples of Jesus Christ, Cuban native, was born in Aguada de Pasajeros, known today as Cienfuegos Province, Cuba, on August 20, 1920. Arturo Rangel was 27 years of age when he was baptized by immersion through faith by the Supervisor Roberto Mondejar on April 13, 1947 in the town of Nazareth, Havana.
He dedicated his life to become a disciple of Christ on June 7, 1947, in the Preparatory School for Disciples, Playa de Baracoa, Havana Province, Cuba. On February 12, 1948, he was blessed with the promise of the Holy Spirit in a Waiting of Anointment Service led by the Apostle Daddy John (Ernest William Sellers).
From there after, he began to forge a chain of love and sacrifice for God's work in his native country with efficiency. He then received a special calling from the church to spread the word in Central America where he was named Ambassador to the Republic of Panama.
On August 21, 1950 he left his family in Cuba to fulfill his position as Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. At his arrival to Panama he was without money, acquaintances, or materialistic resources but with his heart set that God would provide him with his needs. Once in Panamanian soil he began a great work of faith and courage.
He traveled from one place to another, fervently preaching the gospel of Christ. Homeless, sleeping in parks, basements, but never failing to rest in his heavenly mission.
In 1957 in a General Conferences in Cuba he advanced to the rank of Bishop by the Apostle Ángel María Hernández. Three years later in 1960, he was ordained as Bishop in Great Echelon.
On February 19, 1962, Rangel returned to Cuba following the death of the Apostle Ángel María Hernández Esperón. There by approval of the church, three days later that same year he was recognized as the new Apostle to lead the church.
His Disappearance
On August 17, 1966, the Apostle Arturo Rangel Sosa, his brother, the Bishop José Rangel Sosa, and the Evangelist Heliodoro Castillo, left home in Playa Baracoa, Havana Province, bound to the Matanzas Province, where to this day their whereabouts are unknown.
Many have been the speculations and theories of the cause of their disappearance. Southern Circuit (Circuito Sur), a magazine dedicated in investigating cases of missing persons under the Castro regime have concluded the following possible questions with no answers: They were arrested on the road to Baracoa in the Matanzas Province State Security, and killed or disappeared after? They were trying to get on a raft from Cuba and a Cuban Sea Patrol caught them and sank the boat, or were killed in the attempt on the ground? The boat capsized due to bad weather? We might never know the answer.
Nevertheless, his work lives on and although there is no marked grave his legacy lives on...And for all his works and deeds, would not his name be written in the Book of Life?