In the year 1923 during the General Assembly of the Church of God, in Cleveland Tennessee, USA, George F Walter was appointed as missionary to Jamaica
although information regarding the arrival of Walter is unclear, he was the first missionary officially appointed to Jamaica by the church. Notwithstanding the uncertainty of Walter's arrival in 1923, the work of the church was already operating in the Island prior to arrival of J.L. Kinder in 1931.This is evidenced in the fact that R.C. Smith was converted during an evangelist service in Kingston where Mrs. Nina Stapleton, a missionary from the Church of God over which A/J. Tomlinson was the overseer, was the preacher. Shortly after his conversion in 1921, at the age of 18, Smith began to answer the call of God to preach the message of salvation in a remote area of Clarendon, called Main Ridge.
This district was indeed a fertile field for the gospel, as after a short while, Smith established a church in that area which was named, Holiness Church of God. By the early 1930s he had about seven congregations among them were, Main Ridge, Douce, Chapelton, and Dylon. During those early years a member from the Chapelton congregation felt the call to Point Hill in St. Catherine and the work was started there. Pastor Smith and his wife Rebertha migrated to Kingston and settled in the Whitfield Town area where he planted a church at 2 Moore Street, Kingston 13. At the same time, the work of the Church of God continued to flourish under the leadership of Kinder, with churches organized in Danvers Pen in St. Thomas, Gold Street in Kingston
Stony Hill and Old Hope Road in St. Andrew
and Rose Hill in Manchester. Before the General Assembly of 1935, Kinder, who was Island Overseer, due to ill health, decided not to return to Jamaica.
The then General Overseer A. J. Tomlinson, enquired of him whether there was anyone in Jamaica whom he could recommend for the position. Kinder advised the General Overseer that no one in the Church of God was ready for such task, however, he knew a pastor who was not connected to a denomination, and thus he recommended R. C. Smith. The General Overseer then sent an urgent invitation to pastor Smith to attend the Assembly that year. During those times, the chief mode of travel to the United States was by boat. This along with journeying by road from Miami to Cleveland Tennessee caused Smith to arrive the day after the close of the General Assembly.
