For over four hundred (400) years a connection with our Christian heritage; our glorious past; had been hidden and therefore unknown to us, because of slavery and colonialism. We were exposed to tainted forms of education and worship of God. A desire of a few, for regeneration and redemption brought the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo (union) Church to the many on our shores. The ultimate objective was to bring the faith of our forefathers to Trinidad and Tobago and to Africans every-where.

Bro Garnet Springer, had visions of his people getting their own language, culture, and church; he saw the restoration of Israel and the liberation of all African states. He felt inspired to do something to bring about the redemption of African people everywhere. Around 1944 Brother Springer came into contact with David Modeste, who introduced him to Mr. Longe a Nigerian who was studying at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, now The University of the West Indies. Brother David Modeste was a member of the movement founded by the Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey, The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and Mr. Longe taught Brother Springer Yoruba and soon he was teaching others throughout Trinidad and Tobago.

Bro. Modeste, Bro. Springer along with a Mr. Joseph Thomas, who had previously visited Ethiopia, rebuilt the UNIA and with the help of Bro. Thomas’s daughter in New York secured the Charter which was launched the on 16th October 1946; it was unveiled by Mr. Chanka Maraj after Pat Solomon refused to so do. They had 16 branches with approx. 3000 members throughout the country.

Ms Adelonie Petioni, the daughter of Dr. Petioni - the founder of the Penny Bank, was sent from the UNIA in the USA to investigate the operations of the local UNIA, following complaints they received. Ms Petioni reported that the complaints were a case of "petty jealousy" between the old and new leadership. Despite her report, Modest and Springer were expelled from the UNIA. They then formed the more spiritual, United African Pioneering Association (UAPA) in 1949. This gave them a vehicle to continue their work of disseminating information about Africa and awakening the sense of consciousness about responsibilities towards things African. The teaching of Yoruba and Amharic spread to Tobago.

Ms Petioni suggested that Springer contact Davidson Kwati Arthur (Arthur Mar Lukas) who was believed to be an Ethiopian Coptic Bishop. He was a Ghanaian residing in Nigerian. He agreed to travel from Nigeria to Trinidad, but made certain financial demands to facilitate his arrival. Mar Lukas reached London but had exhausted the funds made available to him by the UAPA. A request for further funds necessitated further sacrifices to ensure his arrival in Trinidad.

Mar Lukas arrived in Trinidad in October 1950 and was accepted as a bona fide Bishop by all. He ordained Bro. Springer and Bro. Modeste as priest. He also baptized many who were desirous of joining the Ethiopian Coptic faith. He later travelled to British Guyana where he continued to work in the establishing the name of the "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Church". Some people however began to question his credentials as an Ethiopian priest due to his practice.

In 1951 Brother Garnet Springer came across the name of Father Gabre Eyesus Hailu, he wrote to him in Eritrea, while he was there pleading for the reunion of Eritrea to Ethiopia and got a reply from him when he reached Rome, where he went to translate Geez and Amharic text into Latin and Italian for the vatican. Unknown to the UAPA, Father Hailu was a Roman Catholic Priest, but paper work had already been done to have Father Hailu come to Trinidad. He was well received in Trinidad and was encouraged to visit British Guyana where he witnessed the baptism of many. Despite the Irony, his visit and activities helped the church to develop further. He was instrumental in laying the ground work for the visit to Ethiopia by Bro. Springer and Mar Lukas in 1952 by recommending the pioneers to Emperor Haile Selassie and His Holiness, Abuna Basilios, The Patriarch of Ethiopia.