UM missionary tells of Honduran work

Randy Webster to visit
Oct. 19-21 consultation
at church in Austin

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Hurricane Mitch changed Randy Webster’s life.
The storm is remembered as one of the deadliest and most powerful hurricanes of 1998. It dumped historic amounts of rainfall on Honduras and Nicaragua.
Nearly 11,000 people were killed. Another 8,000 remained missing at the end of 1998 from the storm’s 75 inches of rain. Flooding caused more than $6 billion in damages.
Amidst the death and destruction, Webster, a United Methodist missionary, ached to help Honduras rebuild. But funds were limited. He prayed hard and began the work himself.
Today, Webster, a native of Roatan, Honduras, has accomplished much for his country. He serves within the Belize/Honduras district conference of the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas and provides pastoral oversight for a congregation in Puerto Cortes and another in Tocoa, Honduras.
He is bent on improving the lives of the poor.
Webster is visiting America for two months, traveling to different congregations around the nation to connect with his “support team”—those who have contributed to his mission work—and educate potential new supporters.
He moved through Texas in early October and is to stop at the Oct. 19-21 Honduras consultation, a program a Tarrytown UMC, Austin. The program is to provide more information about the Methodist Church’s tie to Honduras and how United Methodist congregations might get involved.
“My mission is to come along to the churches and explain to them about my mission,” Webster said. “Some churches are already supporting me. This is to say thank you.”
For six years, Webster has served as pastor of the two Honduran congregations, working extensively to provide programs focused on malnourished children, the uneducated and poverty-stricken individuals.
Becky Herrington, Honduras consultation host in Austin, describes Webster as a “tall, strong, quiet man,” someone who might have played professional basketball had he grown up in the United States.
His community loves him, Herrington said.
“He knows the people in the community unlike anyone I have ever seen,” she said. “If you mention a name, he knows that child or woman or family and their needs. And he tries to meet those needs.”
Herrington has served on mission teams that traveled to Webster’s area of Honduras. Webster said he hopes to encourage congregations to form medical and construction teams that will visit him in Honduras.
The Honduras mission currently is trying to build a multipurpose building where leaders can teach those who cannot read and write, he added.
Honduras is marked by extreme poverty, said Roberto Pena, superintendent of the Caribbean District. Infant mortality, HIV and untreated respiratory diseases are results of inadequate health services. The country’s illiteracy level is 32 percent.
The United Methodist Mission in Honduras focuses on children’s education and health issues, Webster said.
Lesly Broadbent, pastor of Willow View UMC, Enid, Okla., said his congregation invited Webster to share about the Honduras mission and what church members might do to help. They learned that Webster has a church in Maryland pledging $300 a month, which feeds 250 people per day.
“It’s just unbelievable what he’s able to do,” Broadbent said.
Herrington said Webster’s schedule is relatively clear in early October, when he’ll visit Austin. She is encouraging churches in the conference to book Webster for a visit.
She said the visit could serve a dual purpose.
“Churches will see Randy as a person they would support from afar or even as a team member,” Herrington said. “But I also think that when missionaries come and ‘itinerate,’ it’s not just a chance for them to get away and have a little bit of time to sit back, but it’s a chance to go somewhere and get the spark they need.
“That’s probably what he is hoping to do—to not only receive the spark that people will give him but that he will spark something in each of us.”
Webster said he hopes his visit will create an interest in the Honduras initiative.
“We want to bring missionary groups down to work with us,” he said. “And we also want help supporting the programs that already exist.”
For more information about the Honduras consultation and mission, visit http://new.gbgm-umc.org.
If you are interested in inviting Webster to visit your church, contact Herrington at Bh91044@aol.com.