WAUSEON - When Rob Nofziger was 21 years old, he went to Bolivia for missionary work. He married a woman from Bolivia and the two returned to Fulton County.

Jenny Nofziger admitted she was lonely. There were no other Bolivians in the area, but the couple had friends who had come from the South American country to New York. The Nofzigers visited the couple and convinced them to move to Ohio.

Other friends followed. Family members came from Bolivia to stay. People in South America found out about jobs in Fulton County and a church that would welcome them.

And a new immigrant community was formed.

In the last three years, Bolivians have left their country looking for work and better opportunities, largely because of a severe economic crisis in their South American country. They are finding a home in Fulton County.

“It s definitely the rural community,” said Mr. Nofziger, 41. “And it s family.”

It s hard to get a handle on exactly how many Bolivians have moved to the county. Two years ago, there were 23 families, said Janie Rodriguez, who has worked with agencies providing services to the immigrants. Other people in the Latino community said there could be as many as 200, most of whom came since 2000.

Most were professionals in their home country, including owners of businesses lost to devaluation. In Fulton County, they work on farms and in factories and often have to change jobs after a few months because of problems with their documentation.

Sometimes those problems are as little as a misspelling on immigration papers, an “s” instead of a “z” in Perez, that prompts federal authorities to question the papers. Sometimes questions are raised because the worker came to the country illegally. Either way, the worker usually ends up having to find a new job, Mr. Nofziger said.

“They are always starting over,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “They re always on the bottom rung of the ladder. Then they start over at another job and they re back on the bottom.”

The community has been working to make room for them. Churches teach English classes and translate services into Spanish. The school district hired two people to help children struggling with the language. Social-service agencies are working to identify the families and their needs.

This is a big step for Wauseon, where in December, 1996, the city council passed a motion to make English the city s official language.

The motion was later clarified to say that it was “in no way a desire to enforce English as the official language for the city of Wauseon.”

Some of the Bolivians coming to Fulton County sought asylum or other immigrant status. Others came without legal status.

Those people have no access to some social programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid. Ms. Rodriguez said many of the Bolivians are afraid to stand up for the rights they do have, such as overtime and fair labor treatment, because they don t want to attract attention.

That is where the community groups got involved.

Organizations such as Lutheran Social Services and Head Start, along with advocates like Ms. Rodriguez, created programs for Latinos and sought them out to tell them what help was available.

At the North Clinton Mennonite Church in Wauseon, Mr. Nofziger translates the morning service while the pastor officiates as Spanish-speaking worshipers listen with headphones. After the service, a group of Latinos attend classes and talk about issues the members have at work, school, or home and “just relate,” Mr. Nofziger said.

“We felt it was needed to help them integrate into the community,” Mr. Nofziger said.

Women, Infants, and Children helps with issues involving pregnant women and children who are less than 5 years old. A health center in Fremont, some 65 miles away, provides medical care. Ms. Rodriguez meets Bolivians and helps them connect with attorneys or service agencies.

“You see them at the grocery stores. You know people who live next door to them. We find them,” she said.

Preserving their Bolivian culture is important to the immigrant families. Their children, who are often quicker to become proficient in English, assimilate quickly into the American culture.

“I understand. They re kids, and all they want to do is fit in,” Mrs. Nofziger said. In the Nofziger home, the family speaks Spanish and gets together with other Bolivian families. “It bothers me to see my nieces and nephews speaking English,” Mr. Nofziger added.

Opportunities for work are the primary impetus for immigrant communities. But many others start because foreigners in the United States because friends or family bring them here, said Brian Ray, policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based group that studies migration patterns.

“Social networks can be very essential in this regard,” he said.

The Migration Policy Institute has studied cities where immigrant communities have formed because an employer has asked one worker to find more employees. That worker then recruited people from his home country, or other foreign-born workers living in the United States.

Slowly, churches, schools, and other organizations integrate the newcomers into the community. That is not always easy, especially if the immigrants are in the country illegally and are afraid to come forward.

“They really live on the margins of society in many ways,” Mr. Ray said.

Wauseon Schools educates the Bolivian students whether their parents have proper documentation or not. Superintendent Marc Robinson said the district is not allowed to ask about their immigration status.

Two years ago, the district created a full-time position for a teacher who instructs students who speak limited or no English. Her primary focus is getting them proficient in the language. A part-time worker helps students and their parents with school issues like homework and test preparation.

The district pays $50,470 a year to the Northwest Ohio Education Service Center for the full-time teacher, and $27.25 an hour for the part-time employee.

There are 50 students in the program, many of them from Bolivia but also from Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and China. Many of the children came in the last couple years.

“We quickly realized we were treading water,” Mr. Robinson said.

Ms. Rodriguez praised the district for taking steps to help the rapidly growing immigrant community. Mr. Robinson said it s important for the students and the district.

“These kids are still expected to pass state tests,” he said.

Jerry Matheny, who was Wauseon s mayor until Jan. 1, had city literature translated into Spanish so the growing Latino population would know what services were available to them, from police protection to water service. After Wauseon passed its English-only legislation, Mr. Matheny urged area Latinos to run for council and was given an award by Voces Unidas for his work.

“It would be as if I moved to their city and needed to turn the water on, but didn t know the words for turn the water on, ” he said.

Mr. Matheny said he understands people s concerns about immigration, especially when it comes to undocumented workers. But he said it s important to help all the residents of the community.

“I think it all balances itself out,” he said. “It s a big country. I guess there s room for all of us.”

First Published February 8, 2004, 2:55 p.m.