The Home I Never Knew

IMG_7352x, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured: Levis (left) and Paul Dragulin, with Lou Wildman at rehearsal at Cernica.

The Home I Never Knew

By Paul Dragulin, 2nd Tenor, member of Sunnyside SDA church
Received Wednesday, Apr 15, 2009 at 1:26 p.m. Pacific

My name is Paul Dragulin and I have been a singer in the OAMC for two-and-a-half years. My brother Levis has played trumpet with the group for about 10 years.

Both of us are full-blooded Romanians. Our parents, Victor and Rodica, lived in Romania during the communist years and experienced many troubles. However, by God's miracles and power, they were sustained and were allowed to leave before communism fell in 1989. Levis was about one year old at the time and I was born about a year later in the United States.

We had never been back to visit Romania in about 25 years. It was after I joined the OAMC that I learned of this mission trip and my parents decided to support Levis and me in going to visit the land where we came from.

A week or two before our departure, for a birthday present, our mother surprised our father with a month-long trip to Romania to visit his mother and friends. As I write this, my father, my brother and I are seeing the land that none of us have seen in about 25 years.

Upon arriving in the airport in Bucharest two days ago, we met our father who had already been in the city for a week. With him was a short, sweet old lady who we both knew was the grandmother that neither Levis nor I had ever met. After a short few moments embracing and talking we were forced to part again because the OAMC group had to immediately leave for the hotel.

Just tonight (Wednesday) I met by a Romanian singer in our combined chorus named Titus who embraced me firmly and told me that he had worked with my father fixing medical machines and hadn't seen either of my parents in about 25 years. He offered to drive my brother and me to where my father and grandmother were staying after supper.

When we arrived at their small home in the crowded city a few hours ago, neither our father nor grandmother were there, but instead there were other relatives we had never seen before – our uncle Lucian and a cousin. They were very warm and excited to see us. They showed us the room where Levis stayed for a year, which he immediately recognized.

After about 20 minutes, we had to leave because it was late. However, we have invited my father, my grandmother, my uncle, cousin and their relatives to come to the final concert in Bucharest on April 25. I hope that on that occasion that Levis and I will have a much fuller experience with these people that I should have known already for years. As far as I can tell, from what they've said and pictures in their home, they are Christians. That warms me with the thought that all of my family may be in heaven.

I had never planned to go to Romania nor had I made any specific plans prior to this mission trip to visit these distant relatives. However, this experience has taught me just what Lou and the others have said for years: what we plan for ourselves and our lives always falls short of what God plans to do with us. Just give Him permission to make your life full with many rich experiences and He will do it.