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In order to strengthen and expand the Oblate ministry in this region, in 1903 an Oblate seminary (the forerunner of Oblate School of Theology) was begun in San Antonio, and in 1904 San Antonio became the headquarters of the newly formed Second American (eventually Southern) Province of the Oblates. This province (an independent administrative unit) was responsible for developing the Oblate ministry within the Southwest United States, Louisiana and Mexico. With the help of Oblates recruited from France, Germany, and other countries, within a decade the Oblates had expanded their ministry into almost every section of the vast state of Texas. They had even begun work in central Mexico, and in a few years would enter northeast New Mexico, southern Louisiana, and southern California.

In 1983, even though the Oblates were having to relinquish various ministries due to decreasing membership, they accepted a new mission field in Zambia in south-central Africa. The mission is experiencing significant growth as it responds to the poorest sectors of the country.

Several of these new ministries were accepted in response to the request of bishops for the Oblates to bring their experience in Hispanic ministry to recently developing areas of Mexican presence in Texas or to long-time areas of Hispanic presence in other states. The entry into Mexico, which was cut short by the Mexican Revolution, was another development out of this decades-old experience in Mexican ministry by the Oblates. On the other hand, it was the international provenance of the Oblates which helped them to respond to the requests of bishops for them to help respond to the pastoral needs of various cultural and linguistic groups in the Louisiana and Dallas areas. In the Houston district the Oblates also accepted chaplaincy work in the state prisons. Beginning in the 1920's, Oblates from Spain also began to contribute significantly to the missionary work of the Southern Province. In the 1940's the Oblates returned to Central Mexico to stay, and soon also accepted work among the indigenous people in the rugged district of Tehuantepec. During this same period they also contributed to the beginning of Oblate missionary work in the strongly Muslim section of the Philippines. Both Mexico and the Philippines have since become independent Oblate units. In 1948 the Oblates in Texas began the Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which has developed into one of the most important pilgrimage shrines in the U.S., especially for Mexican Americans.