Seminarians’ Podcast Shares Stories and Reclaims Space for Interracial Identities

It is hard to imagine seminarians finding time to produce, edit, and promote a podcast in between classes, jobs, studying, and field education, but that’s just what Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Master of Divinity Students Jordan Aspiras and Sarah DeHaan have been doing since July 2020 with their podcast, Mixed Kids Ministry.

The idea for Mixed Kids Ministry began in their first semester of seminary when Aspiras, an interracial Filipina, and DeHaan, a biracial Latiné, were looking for a space where they could be their whole selves and struggling to find it. This missing space led to them founding Mixed Kids Ministry - a place for reclaiming the grey space in theology and the church for those with interracial identities through open conversation and storytelling.

Over the past year, Aspiras and DeHaan have launched a website, completed two seasons of the Mixed Kids Ministry podcast, created merch, and more - all while still being full-time students. We were thrilled to get the chance to interview Aspiras and DeHaan and let them share more about themselves and their work with Mixed Kids Ministry.

Before we dive into Mixed Kids Ministry, tell us a little about yourselves: Mixed Kids Ministry is more than just a podcast, so can you tell us about what Mixed Kids Ministry is and how it got started?

Jordan: We met in our first year here at GarrettEvangelical and pretty early on started having conversations about how theological approaches didn’t quite fit for our lives. I am an interracial woman; my dad is Filipino, and my mom is white, but I was raised in a community heavily influenced by Chicano/Mexican American life and identity. Because of this upbringing, my relationship to my ethnic/racial identity has always been somewhat confusing. A lot of people assumed I was adopted when they saw me with my mom - even teachers and other parents. Teachers would say, “Oh it all makes sense now,” upon seeing my dad. But this is all important to the formation of Mixed Kids Ministry because we weren’t reading or seeing stories like ours reflected in theology and theological discourse.

SD: Mixed Kids Ministry was born in the first semester of our time here at seminary. We quickly realized that there were stories missing from theological education and the church, stories containing those who live and exist in the grey space of the binary, in this space in between. At the heart of it, Mixed Kids Ministry blossomed through our mutual experiences of being multiracial and has been nourished and sustained through the continual building of this community.

Jordan: I am Jordan, and I am interracial, raised in San José, California. I’m in my third year of my MDiv, and I graduated from Baylor University in 2019. I am interested in hospital chaplaincy, particularly with intensive care units and abrupt/ traumatic end-of-life care. I am also interested in exploring what it looks like to have chaplains as a part of medical schools, specifically working with residents, fellows, and medical students when they rotate off and onto the ICU. Sarah/SD: I’m Sarah, I also go by SD, and I am a biracial Latiné. I’m a third-year master of divinity (MDiv) student here at Garrett-Evangelical. I graduated from Western Michigan University with my bachelor of science in family studies. Following my studies, I hope to pursue a call to palliative/end-of-life chaplaincy and Death Doula Certification while continuing to study the intersection of death and culture.

You’re both seminarians – how has your theological education played a role in your work with Mixed Kids Ministry?

Jordan: It felt like I was having frequent conversations with people in having to explain why my relationship with and to my identity looks different and isn’t one size fits all, and honestly, I had enough. And I’m glad that I found someone who was willing to explore this work with me.

SD: As unfortunate as it is, our theological education was seemingly the straw that broke that camel’s back. We went our entire lives struggling to live in this in between, searching for space to exist fully ourselves, and when that still wasn’t present in our theological education, we had to make it for ourselves.

In Season 1, you interviewed New Testament professor, Reverend Dr. Dong Hyeon Jeong. What was it like getting to talk in-depth with a professor “outside of the classroom” so to speak?

Jordan: This was one of my favorite moments of our interviewing. Getting to talk with a professor about his experience was incredible. It is one thing to hear about experiences through reading a textbook or article, but it is something completely different to get to sit down and hear it firsthand.

SD: It was an experience that I know Jordan and I are both very grateful for. Being able to take classes with some of these top theology and Bible scholars in and of itself is such a privilege. So, being able to talk with Dr. Jeong outside of the classroom, pick his brain about a subject(s) that he truly has so much passion for, and also getting to know him outside of that role of educator truly was such a gift.

On the podcast you’ve interviewed fellow students and professors, friends, and faith leaders. How do you go about finding guests, especially those outside of Garrett-Evangelical? Do you have a guest wish list of people you’d love to have on the podcast in the future?

Jordan: We’ve had a lot of support from people who are willing to connect us with others. So, from Colton Bernasol, we met Nathan Samayo. And through Reverend Debbie Weatherspoon, we met Reverend Kim Montenegro. In terms of a “wish list,” I think someone on the top of the list for us would be Dr. Chao Romero, who wrote Brown Church.

SD: I know in passing, we’ve made comments about having people like Phillipa Soo, but after listening to an episode of “On Being with Krista Tippett,” we’ve added Mexican-American poet Luis Alberto Urrea to that wish list.

What can listeners look forward to in Season 3 of the podcast?

Jordan: We are planning to interview some more folks, so if anyone is interested in sharing their story, they can email us at mixedkidsministry@ gmail.com. In addition, we are hoping to get more episodes of just the two of us. We’ve talked about a “foodcast,” where we cook and talk about the importance of food. We also both celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), and we are talking about doing an episode around that and death.

SD: Yes, to everything Jordan said! I am seriously looking forward to the “foodcast,” to an episode on Día de Muertos in our lives/our practice, and definitely some great new interviews coming up. We’re also hoping to bring back some of our previously interviewed people to continue conversations.

If people want to learn more about Mixed Kids Ministry and how they can support your work, where can the find you on the internet?

Jordan: We are on Instagram @mixedkidsministry and Twitter @MixedKidsMin and online at www.mixedkidsministry.com. Our email is mixedkidsministry@gmail.com, and we have a link to our PayPal on our website. We also have merch! On Redbubble, our store is MixedKidsMin, and we have links to everything in the bio on our Instagram and on our website.