Spring 2010 - La Puente Home

to talk him out of it. “Boukan,” I said, “don’t you think that someone of
Mervilouse’s character is going to be problematic when it comes time
to pay for the house? Considering what all he’s done against you, I can’t
support you in the decision.”
Pastor Boukan seemed as if he knew not where I was coming from.
He shifted his seat and said, “Lance, you’ve never seen that man’s house.
His sons and 6 grandchildren also live there, you know. Come, let me
show you it.” And with that he led me back to the field where Mervilouse
lived.
As we walked, Boukan spoke with a deep conviction, “Lance, I’ll tell
you why I don’t consider the past. Mervilouse has the greatest need, it’s
that simple. And in Exodus,” Boukan continued, reciting a bible verse
from memory, “we are told to ‘not be partial to a poor man in his dispute.
If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey walking away, you shall return
it to him. If you see the donkey on one who hates you lying helpless
under its load, you shall refrain from leaving him to do it alone, you shall
surely help him release the donkey’s load’…” And he continued to recite
scripture passages as we walked.
I could only think of the time when Boukan’s donkey was loosed in
someone’s garden, and Mervilouse’s response was to give it blows with
his machete. Yet Boukan spoke those words so calmly and with such
sincerity. Unfortunately, his words could not reach my heart that day, and
therefore I was not able to truly see Mervilouse’s house. My heart was
blind.
The event escaped me until the day that I knew Mervilouse would be
digging his foundation. Enough time had passed to where I could see beyond
my emotions to witness Mervilouse’s present living situation. The
entire structure, made of sticks and mud, was feeble and on the verge
of collapse. The rotting roofing grass testified to the leaky, wet nights
Mervilouse and his family must have experienced. His family’s living
conditions were heartrending. Yet at that moment there was a sense of
impending blessing to see Mervilouse digging the foundation of his new
house right beside his old one.
Mervilouse was not alone that day, for alongside him was Boukan with
a pick in his hand, as well as one of his adopted sons, Josue. The initial
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