Delaporte and his family, including his wife, Salome (also a missionary), arrived in Nauru under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, sent by Central Union Church of Honolulu.
The mission in Nauru, founded by a Gilbertese pastor named Tabuia approximately 10 years before Delaporte's arrival, contained the only formal educational institute on the island at the time.