After having served in the Bahamas as associates in missions, J. R. and Janet Black received their appointment as United Pentecostal Church missionaries to the Bahamas in May 1989. His goal as a missionary to the Bahamas was “to establish church bodies doctrinally and to provide support for future leadership transfer.” During his last year in the Bahamas, he “helped to establish a fellowship of over 250 in three works on three islands of the Bahamas and helped to purchase two buildings.” In 1995 the Foreign Missions Board appointed the Blacks to “Spanish Caribbean.” Based in Puerto Rico, the Blacks oversee the Puerto Rican Bible school and are involved in church planting and evangelism throughout the Caribbean basin. In August 1999, the Foreign Missions Board added the ABC Islands to his area of responsibility.