Pentecostalism in the Caribbean
As early as 1910, there were zealous and devout Christians in the Caribbean region who testified to the experience of a personal Pentecost. In 1912, on the island of Montserrat, American Missionary, Rev. Robert J. Jamieson, whose Pentecostal experience revolutionized his life and ministry, found support for his cause in a small band of people of similar persuasion. Among this group were individuals such as A.B. Mulcare, Snr., William Morgan and Lydia Mings (nee Downey).
Under this new stimulus, this young church spread rapidly in Montserrat and throughout other Caribbean Islands, from St. Croix in the north to Trinidad and Tobago in the south. Rev. Jamieson and his associates sought to establish a Pentecostal Movement. It must be noted that this group of followers became the nucleus of what is today known as the “Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies”
The Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies
On August 17, 1946, the Pentecostal Movement in the Caribbean held its first Conference at Petit Valley in Trinidad. At that Conference, the movement became affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), and was officially declared as the West Indies District of PAOC. The West Indies School of Theology was established at that Conference.
The establishment of the West Indies School of Theology (W.I.S.T) at the Woodbrook Pentecostal Chapel in Trinidad in 1946 is considered by many to be the most significant contribution to the Caribbean region by the parent body (PAOC). The School graduated its first group of students in 1949. WIST has since been responsible for training thousands of national ministers, lay workers and church leaders through its main campus and Extension Schools dispersed among PAWI Districts. Today, WIST graduates pastor some 90% of its churches throughout the region. Others give able spiritual leadership to varied ministries, regionally and globally.
At the 1958 Conference held in Trinidad, the name of the Fellowship was changed to the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies. This decision afforded the young Fellowship to become self-governing, self -propagating and self-supporting.
Taken from PAWI-Online.org