The NorthStar Narrative
The NorthStar Narrative
Teaching and Faith in a Time of Transition
What does it take to navigate a career change during a global pandemic? Mackenzie Reynolds shares her story of resilience, faith, and divine timing as she transitioned through different jobs and countries.
Imagine moving from the comfort of the Southern United States to the high-altitude challenges of La Paz, Bolivia. Mackenzie recounts the hurdles she faced, from severe altitude sickness to language barriers, and how the warmth and hospitality of the Bolivian people mirrored the comforting familiarity of her Southern roots. Her family's journey underscores the crucial roles that faith and community play in overcoming life's most significant transitions, highlighting key moments of emotional relief and divine faithfulness.
Upon returning to NorthStar Academy, Mackenzie utilized her skills to assist families and schools with blended learning. Listen in for her reflections on the awe-inspiring ways God prepares and positions us to serve, the global impact of North Star, and advice for students navigating significant life changes.
Hi, this is Stephanie Schaefer and you're listening to the North Star Narrative, a podcast from North Star Academy. I want to thank you for joining us. I hope you're encouraged, challenged and motivated by what you learned today. Enjoy the story. Hey everybody, Thanks for joining us today. I'm excited for our conversation because we're going to get to talk to Mackenzie Reynolds, who has been with Northstar and the NICS network for several years and she has a really cool story how she was with Northstar for a while, transitioned to some different roles, moved to another school in the network in Bolivia, but also remained with North Star during that time and now she's back full time. So her story is really cool. It started in COVID time and so I just want y'all to hear it, and she's got a lot of insight from all of her experience around the world. So, Mackenzie, thanks so much for joining me today and sharing your adventurous story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm super excited to get to share what the Lord did and just the journey that has been the last three, almost four years for my family and I.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's been awesome, and when I think of Mackenzie, the first thing that pops in my mind is always her coming into my office at Northstar at a really pivotal time where I was like, what are we going to do? And God answered the cry for me and the prayer for me, but also for her and her family and Luke, and so it's really cool. So we can't do this without sharing the very beginning of my meeting Mackenzie and her helping Northstar, without sharing the very beginning of my meeting Mackenzie and her helping Northstar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Way back in 2020, the pandemic had hit and I had quit my teaching job in the States here and I was looking for anything. I was reaching out to everybody and anybody and I was just all over the place trying to find a job, because everybody was trying to find a job then too. And I got a call from Mr Tim Mutter and he said hey, Mackenzie, I see that you're looking for a job and Stephanie Schaefer over at Northstar is looking for somebody. Do you think you could be part-time? And I was like absolutely I don't even know what Northstar is. But let me talk to this lady. I don't know who Stephanie is. And, yeah, I went over to your office, I think almost the same exact day that Tim called yeah, it was the same day.
Speaker 1:It was like within 30 minutes or an hour, I don't know. It was so quick. Yeah, yeah, it was the same day.
Speaker 2:It was like within 30 minutes or an hour, I don't know, it was so quick. Yeah, I happened to be in the Chick-fil-A line when he called me and so I think I ran home real quick, yeah, and then came over, and then I just remember we had such an awesome conversation of just here's where North Star's, at here's what the Lord is doing, are you willing to listen? And I was like, absolutely, let's do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was so good. So North Star was growing because of COVID. So North Star has been around for a long, long time. So North Star has been around a long time 27 years and so we've had many years, before COVID, to position ourselves really well in the market and to be known as a school that has a deep, rich community, incredible courses that we write and we offer and dynamic teachers and all about relationships. So we worked really hard for that, and so when COVID hit, you know, students had the option of continuing on in their school, with teachers trying to do something online or just saying, hey, we're not even meeting at all, you know. And so I think people wanted, if they had the resources, they wanted, a school that really knew what they were doing, and so we had 65% growth during that time, with families flooding in, with us being able to help schools all over the world.
Speaker 1:So it was an incredible time to be a blessing, but a super hard time on all of our staff and teachers because we weren't equipped at that time I mean, nobody was equipped during that time for what COVID was bringing for that rapid growth, and so I was looking for help to help us out in the office with all the people calling and joining. And here comes McKenzie in the office and I was like, mckenzie, here's what we need. You know, you're going to need to be on the phones ASAP, you're going to be able to need to be helping these families, answer questions for them. And so you're like yeah. And I said, okay, go see Tina Tandy next door, she's going to explain to you a little bit more. She literally had one phone call that you listened to. And then it's like, okay, jump in your office and let me tell you everybody could not have done that or wouldn't even try. But Mackenzie immediately just took it and ran with it and she was great, a great blessing to family. So tell us, that's my side of it.
Speaker 1:But what did you feel during that moment?
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, I was just completely overwhelmed because I had been looking for a job all of May of 2020, june of 2020, and nothing was coming up because nobody was hiring due to the pandemic.
Speaker 2:Everything was closed at the time for safety purposes. And so when July hit and we had that awesome conversation in your office and man, like the Holy Spirit, was just in your office, like I remember crying, just because it was like such a perfect connection for my family as well as North Star, and just like the beauty that it was. And then, yeah, running over to Tina's office, talking to Tina for a couple minutes, just so that I wasn't some random person in her office, and then listening to that first phone call and I was like, man, I can do this, I can handle this, it's going to be great. And so, yeah, as soon as I listened to that first phone call and kind of stuck my face into everybody else's office when we had buildings at that time, I jumped right in and I was enjoying it, I was loving it, I was praying with families, constantly on the phone and just checking in on families and making sure that they were getting what they needed.
Speaker 2:Sure that they were getting what they needed, and North Star was just the perfect solution for so many families looking for that quality education online. That was just hard to find at the time. It was really overwhelming and it was a really great feeling. But it was also just wow. There's so much to do, there's so much sowing and harvesting to be had, and so it was super great, super cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll always remember that. So good to watch God at work and how he equips you for whatever you need in the moment, whatever he's called you to. So he equips you to be confident and bold and go forward with his family. Yeah, so good, all right. So let's talk a little bit about your transition. How did you and Luke know you were called to move to Bolivia? Sell everything? I bought your refrigerator. I remember like you were getting rid of everything. Um, what was that like?
Speaker 2:And then, arriving in Bolivia, yeah, so um in, I started with North star in July of 2020, jumped right in headlong, uh, jumped in the deep end with North star and um over the pandemic of, of course, a lot of us were at home, and so what did we have time to do other than spend time with the Lord and turn our eyes upward? And so little did I know, and little did my husband know, that during the summer months of the pandemic in the United States, as well as the beginning months of the 2020-2021 school year, we had been spending time with the Lord and slowly, the Lord had been tearing down these walls in our hearts of we're not going to move overseas. We're not going to do it. Because a little background about my husband's family my husband's oldest sister is also one of the recruiters for the Network of International Christian Schools, and so she has always been our biggest cheerleader for going overseas and we've always turned her down up until 2020. And so, slowly, individually, the Lord was breaking down these walls in my heart and my husband Luke's heart, and we were both being very quiet about that. We were not vocal to each other about what the Lord was doing individually in our hearts, and so, with that we then came together in September of 2020, because, unfortunately, my husband lost two of the students that he had been working with in public schools in a tragic and unfortunate accident and he was just broken. He was heartbroken because he realized he had never really gotten to share the gospel with those two children and so and he never really gotten to have that conversation, and so he finally sat down and was like I need to tell you something, and I was like I got to tell you something too, and we realized in that conversation that the Lord had been preparing our hearts to go overseas to be able to share the gospel and to do that in our profession right, which we're both trained to be teachers. I'm a math and science teacher by trade, he is an English language arts teacher by trade and so we realized in that conversation that the Lord had been doing this.
Speaker 2:And then the Lord started revealing all of these different things, because we had been married for oh gosh, almost four years at this point and we had no kids and we had no desire for kids. At the time, the Lord had not put that in our hearts. We didn't own our house. We actually rented our house. We had just finished paying off my student loans. So we had no debts and, all in all, looking back, we had no real quote-unquote assets that we needed to hang on to or we needed to think about. We had a checking account, we had a savings account and we had a dog. Those were the only things that we had to think about, really, and then everything else could be sold really easy. As you said, you bought one of our refrigerators and we sold pretty much everything that wouldn't fit in a suitcase. And for the dog lovers out there, don't worry, my dog ended up going to live with my parents for the three years that we were in Bolivia, so she was well taken care of.
Speaker 2:And so I got really nervous in September and October because we put in our application for the Network of International Christian Schools, or NICS, in October and I was like I don't think that I'm going to you know that we're going to get approved Like they're probably going to find a reason to reject us, and so I'm not going to say anything to Stephanie and North Star just yet, I'm going to wait. That are both teachers within the network. And so we did, of course, get approved and we started the process, and once we got approved, I said, hey, stephanie, my husband and I are feeling called to go on the field, and Stephanie, being the amazing leader that she is within North Star, was like, well then, you gotta go. She was like I love you and you've been a great help and we're going to be here for you until it's time for you to go. But you got to go if that's what the Lord is doing in your life and doing in your heart. And I was like, oh, big sigh of relief because this boss that I just met a couple months ago is okay with me leaving soon.
Speaker 2:And so we, of course, went through our interview process and we matched with a couple schools within the network, but ultimately we decided to move to Bolivia, in South America, because it was an open school and an open country.
Speaker 2:They were open to Christianity, and one of the things that the leadership in Bolivia said to us as we were moving was, as much as I'm grateful that you are certified and qualified teachers, what I'm more concerned with right now is just your love for the Lord and if you're willing to share that or not. And it was just like an indicator of like, hey, this is the school for you, especially Mackenzie. You're going from a school that has a very similar mindset right now of we're just loving on people and we're just trying to take care of them as they're navigating life, and that's just going from one location, where the Lord is already doing that with North Star, to another location. And so my husband and I moved to La Paz, bolivia, in July of 2021. And I thought my journey with North Star was over and that those doors were closed, but the Lord was doing other things and yeah, you're able to stay on as author and teach over the last three years.
Speaker 2:Yeah that that the Lord was being gracious and kind and um, I've been able to author a course for North star. I'm working on another course right now and, um, I was able to teach through that and Stephanie and the whole North star team has been really flexible with me as I've been overseas doing another full-time ministry job and teaching elsewhere. And so that move to Bolivia was hard and it was difficult and we lost people along the way and still the Lord was faithful and it was still a really beautiful time. And I say, like we're moving to Bolivia and we're doing great. My husband and I knew no Spanish. I took French in high school, he took German in high school, so it was a completely new experience. I had never left the quote unquote Southern United States before we moved. I had to get a passport because I signed a contract to move to another country, and so my first time out of like the Southern United States was to move to Bolivia.
Speaker 1:Wow, first time on a plane.
Speaker 2:No, thankfully. I'd experienced planes a couple of times before, but it was my first international flight. The longest flight before that was to Dallas, texas or Orlando, florida, so I'd never done more than a two-hour flight before.
Speaker 1:It's not too too far, but for your first one, I guess I think my first international flight gosh one of the flights was 15 hours, which was, yeah, that's hard, yeah, no.
Speaker 2:Bolivia is not that intense. There are breaks in there. I think the longest leg that I've ever seen is seven hours.
Speaker 1:So, but there are hard things at Bolivia. One of the things in La Paz is the altitude. I know a lot of people have altitude sickness, headaches, but just the transition of moving somewhere different without your family. So what was the hardest thing about transition in the first few weeks?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, the hardest thing for one was the health aspect to it, because Mississippi is basically at like zero feet of altitude and La Paz and the neighboring city, el Alto, are at 11,000 and 13,000 feet, and so that was really difficult. My husband and I were both very sick that first two weeks just readjusting, trying to figure out our bodies, trying to figure out how to breathe, and then also, um, we knew zero Spanish. Uh, honestly, like we could say yes and no and thank you, and that was all we could say. And so, um, getting into Bolivia was really difficult because we couldn't communicate.
Speaker 2:Um, but the Lord provided people, uh, random airline workers who were willing to translate for us, to help us get into the country, and then also, just the leadership at Highlands really took us into their arms. I can still remember the first time that we got through the immigration desk and through customs and I saw the principal and director of schools, lily, on the other side of customs and I just ran to her and I just hugged her. I love Lily, she's so sweet, yeah, and so culture is different, where there's lots of hugging.
Speaker 1:Yes, embracing and warm.
Speaker 2:Yes, lots of Latin. Yes, lots of embracing and warmth. Yes, lots of Latin American countries. There's lots of touching and cheek kissing and things like that, and I always kind of joked that South Americans are very similar to Southerners in that you're always welcome in their homes. They'll feed you, they'll take care of you however they can. You, they'll take care of you however they can. And so it was really hard, especially the first couple months, before we had really connected with our coworkers or our students or anything, because it was just Luke and I and we didn't have any knowledge of the culture or the language or anything like that. So, but still, the Lord was faithful.
Speaker 1:So faithful always when we answer his call. So when you look back, how did you see God moving as you continued in you know, two or three years after you'd been there a while? What do you remember the most about God's faithfulness?
Speaker 2:um, yeah, what do you remember the most about god's faithfulness? Um, um, man, it's hard to like pick out uh top ones from the three years, but I'll do my best. Um what, luke and I were, of course, teaching full-time. We were both, uh working to make sure that the gospel was known, as well as the content, because Highlands is, of course, an accredited school and so we still had to teach quality content for our students. And then also my husband and I were each leading a discipleship group and I really got to watch those girls grow up and grow and ask hard questions of the gospel and of themselves and of me and other leaders, and so that I'm really grateful for that group of girls and just the blessing that they were to my life. I pray that what I said has planted seeds in their hearts.
Speaker 2:But a huge reason that we didn't just do the two year initial contract um that Nick's employees sign when they sign up to go overseas there they were a big reason that we signed on for a third year um with Highlands, and so that was a really big deal for me and then also for for my husband, luke. Uh, he is just so passionate about helping students understand that the Bible isn't just a storybook and that it is history come to life, um, and that it is the living, breathing word of God. And, uh, he just loves to break it down into all of the different literary pieces and show students where all of the different things are within the word of God. And so I think just getting to breathe gospel truth into our lessons as teachers was one of the biggest blessings that we hadn't gotten to experience previously, and so three years in Bolivia had a lot of ups and it had a lot of downs, but just the overall relationships that we built with those kids was a really big deal.
Speaker 2:There was one school year where Luke and I were the only two middle school teachers. We had other teachers that were coming in from other departments to help fill roles and things, but Luke and I were the only two, and so we somewhat became like the mom and dad of middle school. They knew that if mom was upset, they needed to go talk to dad, and if dad was upset they needed to come talk to mom, and so we had a lot of kids really become like our children. Like I mentioned earlier, we have no children, and so the kids at our school really did become our kids. We were really invested in them. We went to a lot of football games, we listened to a lot of tears, we listened to a lot of anger, we counseled a good amount, and so those relationships that we built with those kids are just priceless for us so good.
Speaker 1:So I think about that verse from Esther that who knows that God has you here for a time such as this, if he has you here? And so I think about North Star. God brought you right when you needed this, if he has you here. And so, um, I think about Northstar. God brought you right when you needed it, when Northstar needed it during our really busy time of enrollment that August, september, october and then still being able to stay on, even while you were working on your transition, um, yeah, and then now coming back to Northstar full time.
Speaker 1:Um, I know you reached out to me and said, hey, we're going to be coming back home and I was like, oh gosh, mackenzie is awesome and we're making some transitions and we're really going to need someone to help us. And so you've come along and you're still doing some of the things you did before reaching out to families, loving on them, answering questions, but also helping more with our school side. And I love how God prepped you for that so well, because while Mackenzie was at the school in La Paz, she actually was the North Star Academy supervisor, so the students that were using us there for some blended learning she was able to help, so you learned exactly what it's like to be a supervisor, the need. So now you get to talk to schools that want to use us and are using us and helping. So I mean, god just always puts you right where he wants you and prepares you for that. So how does that make you feel as a child of God?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness it gives me so much peace. I am naturally a pretty anxious person, a pretty fearful person, and so like knowing that the Lord is orchestrating everything and has everything already laid out is so life-giving and so peaceful for me. So knowing that it is really really helpful because, yeah, while I was in at Highlands I never would have thought, I thought I was not going to get to come back to North Star. I thought, oh my gosh, I left after less than a year. They're going to think I'm crazy, like no, like I don't, I don't know if this is going to work. Like no, like I don't, I don't know if this is going to work.
Speaker 2:And so my husband was the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit at the time and encouraged me hey, just reach out to Stephanie, you never know what's going on.
Speaker 2:And I was super grateful that he encouraged me to do that and that the Holy Spirit used him to speak that into me and that we were able to connect again, tim to speak that into me, and that we were able to connect again.
Speaker 2:And little did I know all of these things that I was experiencing in international schools in Bolivia with my students there was preparing me for life back here at North Star and connecting with these schools and talking to them about how North Star can really fit the needs of the students that they have and the teachers that they have. And it's been really great to connect with not only families but also other schools and really be able to speak truth and say like hey, I have been on your side, I have seen what North Star has done, I am a living testimony to what the Lord does through Northstar and the way that Northstar can really serve your school and serve your students and your families and so, um, it has been just a true blessing and, as a child of God, like watching this all unfold it's just total awe of the Lord, like total awe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, praise him. And it's exciting because you're not unique in this. He does this with all of his children, exactly as we learn to walk with him, trust him, turn our eyes to him. You know I love how you mentioned how our will has to match His, and I love Psalms 37.4,. What's some of your favorite scripture that plays often in your mind?
Speaker 2:Some favorite scripture man. I keep Isaiah 43.2 on my desktop, and it says when you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you. And so for me, as an anxious person, I see everything as big waters and big flames and big, overwhelming things, and so knowing that the Lord has spoken that in the past and knowing that that can still be true today is kind of what rings out throughout my heart. And then also Romans 8.1 is just one that I always go to, and it says therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And so that is one that just echoes through my brain all the time of hey, I'm a sinful person and yeah, I messed this up, but I'm in Christ Jesus. Therefore, there is no condemnation for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love how you told me you love sharing. You're really passionate about sharing with people that maybe some choices or roads we've gone down do not define us Right.
Speaker 2:So tell me more about that. Especially noticed in my students in Bolivia, as well as my students that I've had here in the States in the past, is just there's this heavy weight that seems to weigh on a lot of people of I've made this choice in the past and there's no going back and that's just not the truth, right, I can fall into that trap myself of man. I made this decision, I messed up, I have to own it, and it's like we almost put ourselves in the corner of punishment of I can't reach out to other people, I can't reach out to the Lord. I messed up, and one of the things that has been spoken to me over many years and that I try to speak to people is that it's never too late. The Lord is always there. He's been there for thousands of years, and so the decisions that we've made can be really difficult for the world to overcome, but it's not difficult for the Lord to overcome. Difficult for the Lord to overcome.
Speaker 2:And so, as a teacher and as a child of God, I really try to speak that to my students of hey, that might have been a dumb decision or that might have been the wrong decision at the time, but it's not too late to try again. Especially as a math teacher, I see a lot of students who get really down on themselves if they maybe mess up on a math test or quiz and they think, oh, I'm just not good at math and that's not the truth. You just messed up on one situation or one problem or whatever it may be. And so just because you messed up on one doesn't mean that that is the entire truth of who you are, because you messed up on one doesn't mean that that is the entire truth of who you are.
Speaker 2:And so, as a math teacher, I've said that a lot of times that we are practicing and perfect. Practice is what makes perfect, but practice is what leads us to progression, and we are always in this process of progression and growing, and we see that through our walk with the Lord as well. We see that through the process of sanctification. Just because you're not perfect doesn't mean that the Lord can't refine you and can't bring you through a process of sanctification further, and so that is something that I always share with my students and with myself.
Speaker 1:The freedom, freedom that comes through Jesus' blood, what he's done, and I love that because at Northstar our teachers do get to speak freedom into our students, with the feedback they're able to give and the relationships, the conversations. So it's an amazing global place. And, as you've been at Northstar, just because you left La Paz overseas doesn't mean you're not still having an incredible global impact, right? So many students. So, thinking now about your experience in La Paz, all your experiences at Northstar, what are some of your favorite things? I know one of mine is the global impact, like I mentioned. But what do you love about just your daily work here at Northstar?
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, so for sure. Going from living overseas and getting to be at an international Christian school and talking to all of these people, um, and just interacting with their culture, that has become a big part of my heart, and my heart is really for Spanish-speaking countries and Spanish-speaking people, and so just getting to be a part of a school that is seeking that global reach and that international impact for Christ has been a huge blessing for my heart, because I've been able to connect with so many people from all over the world on a regular basis, and so part of North Star that I love is that global impact. But also, if I could be a full-time student as a job, I absolutely would Give me all the bachelor's degrees, all the associate degrees. I would love that, but obviously I haven't found a career path that lets me do that just yet. But Northstar has been so encouraging in all of the ways that it is growing and learning and reaching out to students and looking towards the future of what does this look like and what does this mean?
Speaker 2:One of the things that I've really loved about North Star is, as AI has become more prominent, north Star has not been reactionary to that. It has been very proactive in how can we use this, how can we benefit our students, how can this grow? And so I love the innovation that we have within North Star and I love the fact that our students leave being lifelong learners. And it's not just our students, it's also our staff and our faculty that are doing that as well and living that on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 1:I love all that too.
Speaker 2:You should see some of the emails that go back and forth of oh, let's try this, let's try this, it's really cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love all of that too, so, so fun to be a part of North Star. Okay, for students that are listening and are about to transition in some big way maybe to another country, or maybe they're transitioning back to their home country what advice would you give? What have you learned that's so important for them to know?
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, it is so important to let yourself grieve what you are leaving, and it is so important to be vocal about that and to tell people hey, I am sad about this, I'm angry about this, I am literally grieving a life that I am leaving right now. And that has been something that has been a big help to me is to not be shy about saying like hey, I am sad, I'm angry, I'm frustrated, I am insert your emotion here, um, as you grieve what you are leaving. Um, because if you are not grieving that, then there are emotions that are going unrecognized, and that's not healthy. And the people around you as much as we want them to be mind readers and to just know what's going on, transition is hard, and unless someone around you has gone through the same exact transition that you're going through, they probably don't realize what you are feeling and what's going on. And so even for my husband and I, who have gotten on the same airplanes at the same times, we have grieved in very different ways and we've had to be very communicative about hey, this is what's going on in my heart and in my brain right now and I need you to help me with whatever it may be, and so, especially for new transitions, I'm pretty new to my transition still.
Speaker 2:I left Bolivia in June of 2024. And it is currently September of 2024 when we're recording this, and so I still have a long way to go. And one of the things that I have heard and I have been told with my transition is for every year that you were experiencing life out there, doing whatever it was, for me, it was Bolivia. For every year that I was in Bolivia, I need to give myself about four months to transition to my passport country again, and so three years in Bolivia means that I'm looking at about a year before I start to feel quote, unquote normal again in the United States. And so, yeah, just grieve and tell people. It's okay to be a little strange, it's okay to be a little weird and to be grieving in different ways and to say like, hey, I know you asked me to do this, but I don't have the capacity right now. Keep asking me, though, because I do want to do that in the future.
Speaker 1:That's good, good advice me though, because I do want to do that in the future. That's good. Good advice, yeah, absolutely Really good. Okay, so what is the strangest thing coming back? So something that may have not been strange when you left, but now, when you come back, you're like why do we do that? Or that's so weird.
Speaker 2:Strangest thing about coming back is just the pace at which people in the United States live life. Oh, my goodness, south Americans, especially Bolivians, do not live life at this pace they are. We'll get there when we get there and we'll stay for as long as we're going to stay and then we'll leave. When we leave, um, there is no like, oh, you get there at six o'clock, you leave by nine o'clock, you go to the next thing. Um, and so for me, that pattern, that structure of the United States, who was not strange when I left? Um, that was, that was normal, uh, and that was typical for me. But now, after having been, uh, in a different culture that just sees time differently, um, yeah, that has been really strange coming back of oh, I'm supposed to be there at 5.30. I can't be there at 5.45, 6 o'clock.
Speaker 1:Like everything starts, 5.30 means 7.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I can't do that, and so that has been really strange. I also really miss tea time. Bolivians do tea time in the afternoon from like 2 to five or two to six somewhere in there, and they just have a little snack and a little tea and they just take like a little break. And so it's really strange that we, as Americans, don't do tea time.
Speaker 1:Let's do tea time yeah, sounds fun.
Speaker 1:Well, I just really love you, talking to you and that you're so passionate and living out like North Star's core values, which I think we've touched on them all Right, I mean the mission and global mindedness, the community and collaboration, the innovation and lifelong learning.
Speaker 1:I mean we have many more core values than that, but those are the ones we've really been listing and focusing on because they're so important. And I love that you're here because I know everybody you talk to. You're going to lead out in that, you're going to encourage in that and, yeah, you are making an impact. You have made an impact Anytime you're in Bolivia, just sharing your smile and your light of Jesus and the word like so many seeds have been planted and so you'll never know I mean, we'll never know how those are going to continue to be watered and grow and so, yeah, but thank you so much for listening to God obeying him when he says go and to be, and so I'm excited to see how God's going to continue to work in your life and do it here through Northstar, so it's been great just sharing and talking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much for having me and just letting me share a piece of Bolivia with you, um, just because it means so much to me and the work that so many faithful brothers and sisters are doing across the world, um is so beautiful to see in person. Um, and then also just to be able to continue that internationally online with North Star is such a blessing, especially as transitions are happening. North Star is a constant for my family and for me, because I've been able to take it across the world with me as I've moved from one continent to another, and so I'm really grateful for North Star and you, stephanie, and your willingness to listen to the Lord and take me on as the young person that I was back in the day during the pandemic and just watch me and help me grow through that. So I'm super grateful to North Star and to you, stephanie, as you've seen a lot of these transitions. So thank you so much.
Speaker 1:So incredible to watch and so, if you're listening today, reach out to Mackenzie here at Northstar, because I know she would love to pray for you, listen to you, help you in transition or whatever you might be going through, and that's not just Mackenzie, all of us want that opportunity. So please reach out in any way that you can Phone, email, chat on our website, so we are definitely here for you and pass the podcast on to other people. There's other people in your life that need to hear little nuggets. Every podcast I've ever recorded and we have done a lot always have incredible nuggets, even if it's not about a topic you're interested in. Like there's a nugget of wisdom because you're hearing somebody's story, someone's life, what they're learning. Yeah, and if you've got guests that you know would be great to tell their story, call us, tell us, reach out to us, because that's why we're here to share the love of Christ and the stories that God is writing.
Speaker 2:He's doing it, and so thank you so much for sharing. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for listening today. If you have any questions for our guest or would like information about North Star, please email us. At podcast at NSA dot school, we love having guests on our show and getting to hear their stories. If you have anyone in mind that you think would be a great guest to feature, please email us and let us know. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on upcoming stories.