Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Today the Church honors the memory of St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit missionary who is renowned for his dedicated ministry to African slaves as they arrived at the South American seaport of Cartagena. Enduring the derision of slave traders, St. Peter Claver fed the hungry slaves, cared for the sick and the dying, and preached the good news of Jesus Christ to them for nearly forty years. He referred to himself as the “slave of the slaves forever” and is deservingly the patron saint of missions to black peoples. 
Heeding Jesus’ command to make disciples of all the nations of the world (by baptizing them) is a trait that is shared by missionaries of every generation. However, baptism should not be seen as a mere conversion tool which missionaries have to use. When Jesus commissioned the apostles to make disciples of all the nations of the world, he didn’t mean it to be done by baptism alone. Baptism was to be accompanied by the preaching/teaching of the good news (cf. Matthew 28:20a), the very good news that Jesus had proclaimed at the beginning of his ministry (cf. Luke 4:16ff). St. Peter Claver appeared to have understood this dynamic, for when he risked his own safety to baptize the African slaves, he was not motivated by increasing the number of the members of his parish, so to speak. Rather, his motivation was the restoration of the human dignity of the slaves that was slowly being trodden underfoot by the society of his day. St. Peter Claver engaged in the baptism of the slaves because, contrary to the belief held at the time, he saw them as fellow human beings. He baptized them because they were worthy recipients of the good news of Jesus Christ – the good news of liberation of the oppressed. As a segment of the society that was pushed to the margins and often not highly thought of, the African slaves were indeed the deserved recipients of the good news of God’s visitation. They needed to be aware that there was someone who loved them and who considered them as his brothers and sisters. And that person was Jesus Christ.
The living conditions of the slaves might not have changed because they had received baptism, but I believe the knowledge that they were equally sons and daughters of the one God just as their masters were must have given them hope to endure any mistreatment received at the hands of their masters. The knowledge that they were equally loved by God was something that meant a lot to them. If a transformation indeed took place in their lives, it was because of the good news preached to them by one dedicated disciple of Christ, St. Peter Claver.