This chapter continues the discussion on the theological development of the Caribbean diasporan church by exploring the practice of mission through the formation of churches. The exploration defines mission, examines Caribbean diasporan missionary tradition so as to determine the historical context, and identifies the definitive practices of the missionary engagement of the church.

In the previous chapter, I employed the theological motif of pilgrim as both the framework and paradigm to define the church. But with the change in the numerical composition of the diasporan community, the theological understanding of the diaspora changed from the pilgrim's quest for survival to the missionary's journey towards peoplehood.

Contributing to this change of theological understanding is the increase in the Caribbean diasporan population that resulted from the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act of 1965 which rescinded the previous policies and replaced them with pro-immigration ones. This made it possible not only for more people to travel but made provisions for categories of people who had not been allowed to travel to do so now.1 For example, parents could now sponsor unmarried children and their next of kin to live in the country. The 1990 United States Census attests to this increase of diasporan growth. The Census reports that during the period between 1965 and 1990, over 600,000 new Caribbean immigrants were admitted into the country.