draw() is what renders stuff to the screen; so you have to let that run at least once (or in fact twice) to achieve what you want; but all is not lost.  You should be able to move all your setup code to a separate function...  Then you can use the value of frameCount to determine what happens when in draw():

1. void setup() {
2.   size(200,200);
3. }
4. 
   
5. void draw() {
6.   if (frameCount > 2) {
7.     // treat this as the main draw loop
8.     println("running");
9.     fill(#99ff00);   
10.     rect(0,0,width,height);
11.   }
12.   // first frame
13.   else if(frameCount == 1) {
14.     // display your image here
15.     fill(#ff9900);
16.     rect(0,0,width,height);
17.   }
18.   // you have to let the frame complete for stuff to render
19.   // so this has to wait till the second frame
20.   else if(frameCount == 2) {
21.     // call your slow initiate() function
22.     println("initiating...");
23.     initiate();
24.   }
25. }
26. 
    
27. void initiate() {
28.   // do lots of initiating
29.   delay(3000);// simulates a delay
30. }

Ok thanks :)