True confessions. I thought I was evangelistic until Ocimar turned the tables on me. I also thought I didnt have much prejudice left. Boy, was I wrong.

Ocimar is a self-employed house painter from Brazil. As he painted five rooms for me (okay, he did one twice, because I changed my mind on the color), Ocimar moved from being a cultural curiositya living example of the world coming to my doorstepto being a friend.

At first, I was simply fascinated to hear the musical tones of his Portuguese as he spoke to his helper. Then I noticed his work ethic. High standards. Excellent workmanship. Discipline. Fairness. Good communication and a zeal for customer satisfaction. All good stuff. But, inside, I found myself squirming, and I questioned my heart: Why was I surprised?

One evening my eye fell on the answerphotos of a 125-year-old house built by my great grandfather, an immigrant from Germany who married an Englishwoman. Im proud of their courage and gumption in moving to Texas, establishing a ranch and helping tame the American West while serving God. Englebert Haags house still stands, along with my impression that European immigrants of that era were hard-working folks with high ideals.

Flash forward to 2004. Ocimar is one of many modern-day immigrants I know. And thats just itso many newcomersso much change everywhere you look. Before my denomination encouraged me to see the world at my doorstep as less of an invasion and more of an opportunity to participate in worldwide evangelism, I wondered about the population shifts taking place on our continent. Maybe I even feared them.

Experiencing Ocimars work ethic helped a lot. Then he challenged me even more. Would I come to his Brazilian church for a family wedding? The invitation wasnt out of the blue. He knows I travel (23 countries so far). He knows Im interested in South America (I gave him a book Id written about a Southern Baptist missionary who opened up Peru for Christ in the 1920s). Most important, he knows I follow Jesus, his Savior, too. Without much arm-twisting, I said yes.

MapQuest led me to a strip mall with shops of Brazilian goods and a small, neat space serving as their church. I was in for many surprises. As guests discovered this was my first visit, they presented the gospel to meand with a passion and fervor that almost made me blush. As with Ocimar, living their faith is joyous. And, if this wedding was their only opportunity and by any chance I didnt know Him, they jumped in. I never saw more seamless sharing of Christs direction in peoples lives as these Brazilians chatted about their families, work and move to North Americahow He drew them here.

I saw the churchs only art, a painting depicting how the Word of God came to Brazil with an American missionary. It shows a red, white and blue eagle landing on a Brazilian flag that covers a table; in his talons is a Bible. The painting is dedicated to the missionary and has a scripture, 2 Corinthians 3:17 where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Another aha moment: these people found freedom in the Truth, not by crossing our borders.

As the reception ended, my new friends exchanged business cards and email addresses. So another prejudice toppled: all immigrants are strugglingtaking rather than giving. I realized these people (and I know that newcomers come in all flavors and varieties of circumstance) are wired, theyre up-to-date, theyre on the cutting edge, contributing and producing. And why wouldnt they be if they had the courage and gumption to move here, establish businessesand serve God?

Ocimar confided that, as an entrepreneur, he feels grat- ified to invest himself in the movement of God in North America by evangelizing, starting churches and making disciples. Here, a Christian has more a sense of ownership, of planting and growing, of making things happen.

Ocimar opened my eyes and helped me shed some outdated notions. He showed me that missions involvement is 360 degrees, not just us reaching out to the unsaved. It can be the saved encouraging the saved to make the next leap. It can be Christians learning from Christians by crossing boundaries and seeing possibilities. Thanks to Ocimar Im more excited than ever about the mission field thats arrived at my doorstep.

Join On Mission as we begin a series of articles over the next several issues looking at various people groups and population segments, explaining how we can reach these newcomers to North America. Turn to page 14 for the first one entitled Planting Seeds Among Internationals.

Carolyn Curtis, editor, ccurtis@namb.net