Evan Green (00:00)

Hello everyone, welcome to Whitley Penn Talks where we give you valuable insight to help make confident informed decisions and move your business forward. My name is Evan Green, I’m an audit partner in the Permian Basin and today we’re talking about the ins and outs of growing a faith-oriented community in West Texas. I’m excited to be joined by Kelly Carroll who’s the ESL coordinator from Stonegate Fellowship to bring insight to the topic. Welcome Kelly, we’re excited to have you.

Kelly Carroll (00:31)

Thank you so much for having me.

Evan Green (00:33)

Yeah, absolutely. I think we’re gonna get kicked off right away with just some background about yourself. So can you just give us a little bit of insights on your background, whether it’s before West Texas or Stonegate Fellowship, all the way up until kind of where we are now.

Kelly Carroll (00:49)

Yeah, so my name is Kelly. I am originally from North Carolina. Born and raised, stayed there before I graduated college and then my husband Will and I moved to Midland in July of 2013, and we’ve been here since.  My background is early childhood education and special education. When I moved to Midland, was that taught for Midland ISD for a couple years before we had our first daughter.  After that, I really just wanted a part-time role, not so much a full-time role so I could be mom and help raise her. And so that is when I transitioned to Stonegate and started teaching at the Mother’s Day Out program there. Will and I had been attending Stonegate for a couple years before that. We moved to Midland, both of us are from the East Coast and so we knew that we wanted to get involved in our community and we were lucky enough to be raised in church all of our life and we knew that this church community was something that we needed in order to just grow spiritually and healthy and all of those things. And so, when we went to Stonegate, we just knew it was the place for us. They had so many great things going on.

Evan Green (02:01)

All.

Kelly Carroll (02:19)

Everything we needed as a young married couple. As we looked into our future of wanting to have children, they have an amazing children’s ministry there and it was a place that we knew that our children could learn and grow. Just be who God has designed them to be. And so, it was an easy yes for us. So, we started attending Stonegate really when we moved to Midland. And then, so we had Kensington and that’s my oldest daughter. And then I transitioned to Mother’s Day Out. I was there in that ministry for five years before I transitioned into the ESL coordinator role at Stonegate. And just so everybody knows, ESL stands for English as a second language. Sometimes that can be confusing because we’re not really sure what the ESL stands for. what we do in our classes is we just teach basic English skills to people whose first language isn’t English.

Evan Green (03:10)

OK, great. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for defining ESL. We’re going to use that term, I think, pretty frequently during the rest of the episode. So, as you know, as someone who also just moved to Midland recently, I moved in 2021. I completely understand like looking to get into the community and what better place to do that than finding, you know, a good religious organization or something you feel really strongly about. So, I just moved in 2021 with my wife and we kind of did the same looking for that, you know, sense of structure and getting to know people in the area and know, the religious affiliation and, you know, they’re all very welcoming. And so that’s a great place to start for sure, right? We moved from Houston, yeah, back in 2021. So, I was with Whitley Penn in the Houston office and now we are here in Midland. And for you, you’ve been here for, guess, 12 years now. So, you are like a native Midlander at this point. Right. No one would even know.

Kelly Carroll (04:01)

Where did you guys move from? Okay. that’s how I feel. I should stop telling people I’m not from here because I find it.

Evan Green (04:26)

So, for people who aren’t super familiar with Stonegate as a whole, can you just give us some background on Stonegate Fellowship? It’s been around for over 25 years. And maybe just a high-level mission of Stonegate and some history.

Kelly Carroll (04:40)

Yeah, so these stories were obviously told to me when I first came to Stonegate. It’s a really neat story about a man. His name was Stan Cornwell, and he was part of First Baptist Midland. He just had this, I mean, spirit-led mission to go to the end of West Wadley Daly and just get out of his truck and walk around that. It was a cow pasture at the time, but he would get out and he would just be praying that this land would be used to  just to glorify God and help grow his people into disciples and it’s just really cool to see like I would love to ask him like now like did you imagine Stonegate being this you know  and it’s just because he was spirit-led and he prayed and that’s really something that  at Stonegate like we are, you know, faithfully praying for God to just use our facilities and our people to just transform our community.  We are so blessed to be in Midland and to have the facilities that we have. And so, it’s just really special to know that just because a man prayed, and God answered these prayers that we have what we have and we’re just grateful for that.  So, after Stan did that about a decade later, a group of individuals from First Baptist Midland started what we have now as Stonegate. And so, they met at Abel Junior High, would put the church together, tear it down. I mean, I can’t imagine the amount of work that took just the endurance of these people. It’s just so sweet to see what it’s become. And like I said, we’re just grateful for that. So yeah, so Stonegate’s been a cornerstone for 25 years.

Our mission is simple. It’s just that everyday people being transformed by Jesus to love and influence daily. And I love that it’s something that’s really jump-started our ESL mission and our program. A couple years ago, our missions pastor decided that he would be taking everyday people to a nonprofit organization in Dallas, Texas called For the Nation’s Outreach.  They serve refugees that have been placed in the DFW area by teaching them English classes. The best part about it is that they get to teach them English classes, but they also get to share the gospel. A lot of the students they’re Muslim, they’ve never heard the gospel. So, it’s just a really neat thing.  As we would go, my husband and I were part of one of those teams that went, and we were always encouraged to want to go back. It’s a really special place.

Like you read in God’s Word about the nations coming together and you can literally walk in any of those classrooms and see so many people groups represented and it’s just a really good representation of how big our God is. And how sweet it is that he created all these people all over the world and decide, hey, we’re gonna put you here in this classroom together to learn English. And so, we were always encouraged to wanna go back. We still love to go back. But it was something that when we left, we’re like, you know, this is a need in our community. Why can’t we do this? And just like the founders of For the Nations, we wanted to meet a need in our community. And so, we decided, well, we can do this too. And so, they gave us the encouragement to do it. And so that’s kind of how ESL got started and why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Evan Green (08:39)

Yeah, that is awesome. you know, if just thinking about 25 years ago where the campus and the facilities are now being a CalPASS chair and then seeing the progress and the, mean, if you haven’t been out there, the campus is amazing. The facilities are awesome. And it’s a huge, you know, there’s a lot of stuff going on in that facility. the transformation has been awesome. And you led right into my next question, which was, you know, what led you to kind of start this ESL program and what really popped up as a need within the Permian Basin. And you touched on it briefly, but was, you were making an impact in the DFW area by traveling there and, you know, teaching and spreading the word. What did you see in the Permian Basin? Because you said, you specifically mentioned like we have a need here in the Permian Basin for this. What, I guess, what did you identify and what did you see specifically that that led to like this is going to be a successful program?

Kelly Carroll (09:41)

Yes, so for an example, just in one of our classrooms, we have four English classes that we offer at Stonegate. In one of our classrooms, we have over seven countries represented. Most of them are Latin American countries, so the most common language is Spanish. We have a couple other languages, first languages spoken in our classrooms, but it’s just a huge need in our community.  When we can help our community members learn English. You’re providing them with a better job. You’re providing them with the opportunity to connect in our wonderful community that we have.

I am a former school teacher and so just knowing that  we could empower some of our moms that are in our classrooms to be able to have a conversation with their child’s teacher that’s only gonna help their child grow, that’s gonna help their future, and it’s really just gonna impact what’s to come for them and their family. And so, it was just a huge need because we want them to be part of our community. We want them to come to the soccer field and talk to have a conversation when we see them out, come to the birthday parties.  This one people group that we so dearly love at Stonegate, started, our program started with 34 Chinese church members. Most of us know them as the Mayflower Church. So, the Mayflower Church was actually rescued from the Chinese government. They were really enduring some harsh persecution in China.

So, China Aid, which is a nonprofit in Midland, rescued them and brought them to America. When they came to Midland, that was back in February of 2024, we knew that this was like an opportunity to start English classes. And it was really fun because it was challenging. No one on my team spoke any Mandarin. Chinese it’s very difficult but it was just a lot of fun to be able to just find like people that you could help learn a language that you knew and so you don’t have to know any different languages in order to be effective in ESL you just need to know English and so that made it easy and that made it fun. so anyway, all that to say when there was a need in our community, and we just really wanted to be a part of meeting that.

Evan Green (12:28)

Yeah, no, absolutely. A lot of things you’re saying resonate with me.  I think we have a lot in common. My wife is an English teacher at Midland Freshman. She’s, yep, she’s ESL certified and she comes home with stories quite frequently where it’s just like small impacts to some of the non-native English speakers, helping them gain confidence and that it doesn’t only help with just like potentially getting out in the workforce or anything like that, but it helps them branch off and feel confident trying to make new friends who are only English speakers or be more involved in social circles and stuff like that. Because she mentions when they’re first trying to learn English as a second language that they have a big tendency to just stick with other native Spanish speakers or in your example, native Chinese speakers, and it’s really hard for them to branch out.

You get progressively and progressively more confident as you continue to learn English. And she’s seen a lot of exposure and advancement just from her freshman class that she brings home and is really excited about. So, everything you’re speaking to, it just resonates with some of the stuff that she sees in her classroom as well, which is really cool.  So, know, kind of speaking to that impact and, you know, the impact that you’re trying to make on the community. Do you have kind of an overall, an overarching impact that you’ve made? Do think you’ve made? And do you have kind of a favorite, you know, success story or impact that you’ve made on the community?

Kelly Carroll (14:01)

Well, when we started our ESL, like I said, we had 34 students. Now we have over 85 students. And as much as I would like love to see like 200 students, like right now we have 84 students that are learning English with us. And so, when you think of that number, like you, you realize that’s 84 families that could potentially have, you know, a new language in their home, better opportunities, more success as they go about their career or their time in Midland. And so, for me, I just love to know that there’s 84 families that have come into our ministry who are trying to learn English and they’re doing really well learning English. So, that to me is just success because we have 84 people that we are lucky enough to be able to teach.

Evan Green (15:00)

Yeah, absolutely. then that growth is pretty crazy. I mean, it’s the program hasn’t been along that well around that long. And it sounds like it’s just grown exponentially getting all the way from, you know, said bid 30 is up to 84. That’s definitely impact. if I do say so myself.

Kelly Carroll (15:17)

Yeah, we have to limit. We unfortunately we haven’t been able to expand our classrooms yet, which that’s in the future plans to come. And so, we do have to limit that number because we just don’t have, you know, a stadium seating right now for classes. So yeah, we do have to limit that number. So, I’m excited to see what’s going to happen in the future with that.

Evan Green (15:42)

Yeah, maybe a stowned stadium will let you use that for a little while. Specifically, to the program that you’re working on now, what kind of level is this geared toward? Are we talking a certain age range or level of initial English proficiency or in certain career paths? What is your target demographic? it anyone and anyone who wants to learn English?

Kelly Carroll (15:45)

Yeah, that would be fun. So our target is our adults. We are teaching adult learners to speak English. We do have a piece to that that we use our childcare ministry is incredible and so they have they also provide childcare for our students who are coming in to learn English, but we just target adult learners from eight to 80. Our levels differ. In the mornings we have classes, we have two classes and those are high beginner speakers and intermediate speakers. And then our nighttime classes we’ve noticed that these are more of our students who have to work during the day and so they are more basic learning learners. So, our classes in the evening. have two of those that’s basic English and then low beginners English.

Evan Green (17:10)

Perfect, awesome. I mean, pretty broad range of individuals who are coming and getting a lot of help from the organization. You touched on your kind of capped as far as capacity in your location or maybe it’s not having enough teachers to teach. When you think about the future and you think about growth and where you want to go as an organization, what kind of challenges are you navigating and what are the expectations here in the next few years?

Kelly Carroll (17:42)

Yes, so we always just anticipate challenges with anything new that comes. mean, I think everyone has to do that.  But we have some incredible people that are on our team that really live out our mission and the mission that God commands us, and that’s to love him and to love people. And my team is just very willing to help and to do whatever they need to do in order to help our classrooms be successful. A lot of them are unpaid servant leaders. We have two gentlemen that work full-time jobs and then in the afternoon they come and teach English in our night classes. And so, this is something that anyone could do. But we’re just excited to see what’s gonna happen with this.

Like you said, we’ve started with 34, now we have 85. And so, there’s an obvious need. We need to grow because that’s only gonna help more people learn the language. So, when we anticipate that, we just know it’s coming and that’s okay. We have always been really faithful in our prayers about this organization and our ministry. And we know that this is Spirit-led, and God has given this in most of our hearts and if he has something else in store for us, then we’ll just follow his path. But he’s led us this far and we trust in that. And so, we definitely rest well at night knowing that it’s in his hands and not ours.

Evan Green (19:25)

Yeah, that’s awesome. You just wake up and you know, whatever challenge comes, I’m ready for it. That’s great.  you know, so obviously here at Whitley Penn as an accounting firm, this is, you know, we’re trying to shed light on local nonprofits and get the word out there and encourage engagement and that kind of stuff. But we’re also a business, and we’re a business centered podcast. So, you know, we’ve had, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with some other nonprofits here and we have.

Kelly Carroll (19:32)

Yeah.

Evan Green (19:55)

Nonprofits around the state who have joined the Whitley Penn podcast and then also come back and listen to it. So, you from that perspective and from a business aspect, have you seen any unique challenges, especially being a faith-based organization, but also, we’re in the Permian Basin where everything is oil and gas related. So, have you seen anything just specific to being faith-based and then being in this region where everything is so funded and run on oil and gas that’s made an impact or been a challenge to overcome?

Kelly Carroll (20:32)

Yeah, I think whenever you mix culture together, there’s always going to be challenges with that.  Because our economy is very oil driven, we see a lot of needs that we want to meet as not only an organization, but as a church and people of God. so, navigating those things can be a little challenging, but we do what we have to do as far as navigating the different cultures that we have and what that looks like.  I’m currently reading this book.  It’s called How to Work with Complicated People by Ryan Leake. It’s a great book, but he wrote this quote that I wanted to share and…

It’s so good. He says the best way to work with someone difficult is to remember they’re working through something that you can’t see. And I love that quote because I know that every need that comes into our classrooms, there’s a story behind it and there’s a need that needs to be met. And if we can take our eyes off ourself for a minute or how we want to grow and how we want like maybe the outside to look and really hound it on what’s going on in the life of that individual and meet that specific need then I think that’s where we’re going to do our good work.

It’s gonna be more joyful for them and it’s gonna be more joyful for us. I also love to tell my kids this too whenever they come home and say, you know, someone said this to me, or someone wasn’t kind to me. And I’m always like, man, I’m so sorry that happened, but you never know what’s going on in someone’s life. And so, when you think of life and them as individuals and just people of the Lord, then your hearts change forever and you just kind of handle challenges and situations different than if you didn’t think of it that way.

Evan Green (22:39)

Yeah, that’s a great way to look at it. It’s hard to always take a step back and think that way. You have to have a lot of patience. Knowing my wife as a schoolteacher, I can only imagine the amount of patience that goes into her work and your work as well. I try to have that patience, but I am not as gifted as I think the two of you. But yeah, it’s always good to try to take a step back and you know.

Kelly Carroll (22:54)

Yes.

Evan Green (23:06)

Be a little less self-focused and say, okay, what does that person have going on? Let’s just smile and have a positive interaction and you could make someone’s day without even realizing it. So, I think that’s a really cool kind of mindset to have as you go forward.  I think one of the last things I wanna touch on and get your thoughts on is, for someone like myself, I am not ESL certified, probably someone who they do not want in the classroom.

But then my wife, who is ESL certified and in the Midland community, is there something that we can do? Is there something that other folks in the Midland community can due to kind of get involved and try to give back to this program? Or how can we best help you continue that growth goal that you’re looking for?

Kelly Carroll (23:33)

Yes, so, whenever someone signs up to volunteer in one of our classrooms, we do have a lead teacher who will guide the lesson and the program. And really what we want servant leaders to do, just come in and have conversations. It’s really important that our students hear conversations that are not like broken and we have good fluency when we’re speaking and just the flow of a conversation in the program that we use, there’s actually time for that.  So, there’s an allotted like 10 to 20 minutes where you can just set across from someone. There’s a topic on the board that you can talk about, and you can just help them practice English and they learn so much from just listening to you speak English.

I will say that not all of our lead teachers have any sort of educational background. They just have a heart for the nation. And for helping people learn English. And so really the only qualification that you need is that you need to speak English, and you can be effective in our classroom. A lot of people think, you need to know Spanish, or you need to know Mandarin Chinese, but we’re not teaching Spanish or Chinese in our classrooms. We’re only teaching English. And so sometimes it’s easier when you don’t speak the language because you don’t translate for them and they just will figure it out, the more that they hear it. And so, don’t let that be a reason why you don’t come and get involved in our ministry.  You will definitely be blessed just hearing stories and meeting new people and really like learning more about culture. One of our favorite things that we do in class will have times where our students will come in and share a little bit about the country that they’re from and they always bring the most amazing food.  

They wear the type of clothing that they would wear in their country, and it is just such a neat experience, and you really get to see like who they are and where they come from and it’s just really really neat. so, if any of the listeners would like to get involved, can go to our website, and click on ministries. Our website is StoneGateFellowship.com. If you’ll click on ministries and scroll down to missions, there will be a title at the very bottom of that page that says English as a Second Language or ESL. You can click on that link to sign up to volunteer. There’s also a link where if you know someone who would be interested in taking classes with us, they can click that link and sign up to take classes at Stonegate with us. So, both of those options are good options. So, we hope that some people will come out and check it out.

Evan Green (26:50)

Yeah, absolutely. I might be one of those. kind of was under the understanding that maybe a Spanish or Chinese speaking background would actually help. And it sounds like that’s kind of a misconception. So, I’m glad you mentioned that.  My English is questionable at times, I feel like. But I think maybe I can come out and help out.  But when you talk about bringing in food and other cultures, that’s where I really thrive. So, Kelly, thank you so much for just, you know, coming on and, you know, opening up and sharing your experience and your background and the history you’ve got with StoneGate and the ESL program. It’s been awesome just to hear about, you know, the successes that you have and the growth that you’ve seen out there. And we’re excited to, you know, see this continued growth and hopefully help out, you know, in some of that process. So, thanks for coming on.

Kelly Carroll (27:37)

Thank you so much for having me.

Evan Green (27:39)

Yeah, no problem. you know, for those listening, if you enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or listen on our website at whitleypenn.com/podcast. Thanks again, Kelly. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of your day.