In June of 1972, I was discouraged because a year had gone by since I had graduated from seminary, and I hadn’t raised a penny to go back to Haiti, which had been my goal. So after preaching at a church in New York City, two ladies asked me whether they could join my wife and me for a night of prayer. We agreed, and I said, ‘Please ask the Lord to tell me what to do! I heard the call for the ministry, but now I have been trying to raise funds to go to Haiti and I cannot raise any money. If he has something else in mind, let me know.’”

Soliny Védrine was born in L’Asile, Haiti, one of seven children of a tailor, Sauveur Védrine, who, at great financial sacrifice, sent Sol away to school in Port-au-Prince at age 14. Sol eventually graduated from the university with a law degree, married, and came to the U.S. to study at Dallas Theological Seminary. But then, Sol hit an impasse.

“By the time the two ladies left, we were tired and hungry. We were glad we prayed, but we were glad they left! That afternoon, one of the sisters came back and said, ‘We have found the answer to your prayer.’ I wondered, was it Haiti? Miami? The sister said, ‘Boston.’

“‘Boston!’ I said. ‘How do you know?’ She said, ‘Mr. Jean-Pierre, who lives in Boston, just came to spend the weekend with us. And he keeps complaining that Haitians are pouring into Boston by hundreds yet there are no churches. So I tied up his complaint with your request!’

“She put me in contact with Mr. Jean-Pierre, who said, ‘Come to Boston! We need you. Haitians are coming from New York to Boston. You should come, brother. Come!’”

Six months later, Sol and Emmeline obeyed God’s call to go to Boston. There they found two small Christian fellowships serving a rapidly growing population of Haitians. Assuming their full-time job was ministry, Sol and Emmeline began to meet with Haitian families to share the Gospel and their dream about starting a church. But when their first baby was due and they had no money, Sol took a secular job as a welder for eight months and then as a bookkeeper for eleven years, while working many hours developing the church.