Where Ya From? Podcast Our Daily Bread Ministries

Propaganda knows what it’s like to find yourself at a crossroads. Growing up in a predominantly Latino community in Los Angeles as one of the only Black kids had its challenges, but it set the stage for Prop to discover the cultural diversity and beauty God’s creation has to offer. Embracing the oneness that unites us all has been the driving force behind his music, art, and activism. God continues to write Prop’s story to show the connection between us all and, together, how we are called to a greater community: a beloved community.

Guest Bio:
Propaganda’s music and prose is all about divergence and connection. Born and bred in Los Angeles, Prop witnessed and now celebrates the intersection of all things. His music is like the man himself, the result of many elements coming together.
As he spent most of his childhood in a predominantly Latino neighborhood of LA, there was a sense of multiculturalism from the very beginning. After graduating with degrees in illustration and intercultural studies, he taught high school for six years and helped found two charter schools in LA, one of which focused on the arts. 
Prop joined up with the hip-hop collective Tunnel Rats in 2003. By 2007, he resigned from teaching to pursue music full-time and began touring as a solo artist. He joined the Humble Beast family and unveiled a series of four albums that put his music on the map. His 2014 album, Crimson Cord, topped several billboard charts even after being released for free. Over his career, he has toured with some of the largest artists in hip-hop and has played tours and festivals across the country. 
In addition to his music, Prop is a published author, podcast host, social activist, and bonafide coffee nerd. His debut book, Terraform, reached #1 in Amazon’s poetry section and earned him a Distinguished Lecturer award from Cal Baptist University. Prop’s podcast, Hood Politics with Prop, is featured on the iHeart Radio Network and receives thousands of downloads per week. 

Notes & Quotes:

We were LA kids, you know what I mean? For us, it was like, “You ain’t got nobody pregnant? Great. You are not out here shooting your neighbors? Great.” So for us, the situation was so dire that, again, a lot of the things that one would think would make you a church kid, we were just over that…. It was like our experience was so intense that it was like we were really leaning on grace. 

If you can find a decent enough tribe, it’ll keep you safe from so much. So I think there was that warm blanket of having a thing and a lot of the things that I’m interested in, those dudes go to my church. I was into hip-hop. Those guys [who enjoyed it] were at my church too. So I was able to be like, “Well, I can spend time there rather than running the block.”

I’m going to defend this dude no matter what. Why? Because he’s from my hood, it doesn’t matter... Of course, when it came to the beloved community, I was just like, “That’s just my folks.” And it’s almost like, this is what Christ is trying to say, it’s like, “Man, this ain’t no empire, man. Y’all not conquered, homie. This is a kingdom, you’re a part of this.”


Links Mentioned:

Power Beats Pro Bluetooth Earbuds Giveaway

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Explore Prop’s music on Spotify and Apple Music

Listen to Prop’s podcast, Hood Politics with Prop, through iHeart Radio


Check out Prop’s poetry book, Terraform, on Amazon. 

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Verses Mentioned:

John 13:34

Proverbs 27:17

Matthew 6:10


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Vivian Mabuni knows what it’s like to be living in two different worlds. Growing up in a predominantly white community as a Chinese-American, a lot of her early life was lived with the purpose of trying to conform as much as possible, but knowing it would never be enough. Yet when she finally found the missing piece in Christ, everything changed. God used Viv’s story to shape her heart to share His precious truth with college students and prepare her voice to be a light for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Guest Bio:
Vivian Mabuni is a national speaker, author, Bible teacher, and podcast host. With over 30 years on staff with Cru, Viv loves teaching about the Bible and its practical application to ministry and life. Author of “Open Hands, Willing Heart”, she also serves on the Board of Trustees for Denver Seminary and is the founder & host of “Someday Is Here”, a podcast for AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islanders) leaders. 
Viv loves drinking coffee with her husband of 31 years, Darrin. They serve together as speakers for FamilyLife’s “Weekend To Remember” marriage conferences. They are proud parents to three young adult kids. And recently welcomed a daughter-in-law to the family!

Notes & Quotes:

I remember getting into the car after one of the [play] rehearsals and my dad just saying, “It’s just too bad you’ll never play Juliet because you’re Chinese.” That just underscored for me, growing up in Boulder, that there were things that were going to not be possible for me because of how I looked. 

These little prayers were lifted up to the Lord in Hong Kong of all places. Wouldn’t you know… God came through in Hong Kong.

I dream in English, my values have been shaped by growing up in the United States. My identity is still not true of this country of origin, even though Hong Kong wasn’t my country of origin, but being with other Chinese people did not make me feel like I fit in either. There’s that tension again of like, “Well, where do I fit in?” When I read material about third culture kids, that resonates as an Asian-American. That resonates, like…I don’t feel like I fit in neither here nor there.

What I picture the body of Christ in a healthy way is that we are all linking arms facing out. So we have each other’s backs, but we're not so bent out of shape about the music. Yes, music is important, and I don't want to downplay that, but there was something bigger going on, that we would make a little bit of a difference in our university but have our whole vision shifted to live for more than just our own happiness.


Links Mentioned:

Power Beats Pro Bluetooth Earbuds Giveaway

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Visit Viv’s website to discover timely wisdom shared on Someday is Here and other resources.

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Verse Mentioned:
Deuteronomy 31

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Renee Begay is no stranger to feeling unsure of where she belonged. Growing up in Pueblo of Zuni, Renee was blessed by being surrounded by the cultures and traditions of her people; the Sandhill Crane Clan flows within her. Yet, when she gave her life to Christ, the joy of knowing her Creator also came with the pain of figuring out what her new reality meant for both herself and her family. Join us as we discover how our cultural traditions and where we come from can help give us more confidence as we embrace our new lives in Christ.

Guest Bio:
Renee Kylestewa Begay is from the Pueblo of Zuni in Southwest New Mexico. She is a mother to three daughters and married to high school sweetheart Donnie Begay. During her undergrad, she founded the Nations movement—a national ministry that seeks to build relationships with the Native American community.
Renee currently works as the national director for Nations, is a conference speaker, and manages a resource website called The Talking Circle with her husband.

Notes & Quotes:

And so just being respectful by praying the way they prayed and listening to their prayers. . . . My ears and eyes were open to just this new experience. But then also knowing like, “Oh, I have a different way of living when I go back home. And these people don’t know that.” And somehow I wish that they did. 

If I do decide to follow Jesus, it’s a very different introduction into what could be. And I know that even being in Christian environments, the gospel was always presented as it’s an individual decision that you need to make. But to me it wasn’t. It was like, this is a very collective decision. It might be an individual decision for me to make, but I know that it’s going to affect the rest of my community.

So then what does that do to my identity? Am I not really Zuni? And so a lot of it was just like, if I do decide to follow Jesus, am I going to be kicked out of Zuni? Am I going to be denied my Zuni identity? And it was a really big fear that I had.

There were times where I was just so overtaken by this zealous faith, but I didn’t really know how to do it in a way that was loving and respectful. . . . that really paved the way for a lot more trust-building with my family in the later years, because our silence together has really opened up a lot more engagement of the senses of not just the speaking, but more watching the hearing, the posture of how we interact as a family.

We [Indigenous people] need that space, because, over hundreds of years, we’ve been told how to believe. We’ve been told what to believe. We’ve been told what to wear. We’ve been told how to wear it. We’ve been told how to speak. Those things were stripped of us, and there needs to be a place or a chance or a season or just an awareness for Indigenous peoples to be able to self-theologize. We need a space to be able to make mistakes theologically. We need a space to be able to pose questions that are hard. If we can’t do that, then where can we do it?


Links Mentioned:

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Visit Renee’s The Talking Circle website to learn more about her and Donnie’s work with Nations and indigenous communities around the country.  

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Early on, Chaz Smith knew he wanted to make people laugh. Even in high school, when he was expected to play basketball at a high level, he always knew that wasn’t what the Lord had placed on his heart for his life. 
Around that same time, Chaz began stepping out into the Vine scene and has since found both success and purpose. That journey has led him to many life-changing opportunities, but it certainly hasn’t been easy along the way. 
Join us as we’re reminded that God will continue to lead and show up so we can carry out His greater purpose, even when we question where He is leading us. And yes, sometimes all we need is just a good laugh.

Guest Bio:
Chaz Smith has been making people laugh and sharing stories for years! Starting back in 2013, Chaz committed himself to creating uplifting videos and quality entertainment to bring joy to people around the world, amassing up to 3.2+ million followers across various social media platforms, and has no plans to stop. 
For the past two years, he has been working on a special project called What Had Happened Was. This is a colorfully animated, comedically narrated web series that retells beloved biblical stories in ways that entertain, inspire, and make people of all ages and backgrounds laugh as they make sense of the world and who they are in God’s eyes.

Notes & Quotes:

And after that, I was like, “Okay. It’s not enough to just read the Bible. You need to study it. You need to know Scripture, for the sake of knowing Jesus, of course, but also so that you’re not deceived and led astray by false doctrine.” And that was a really good experience ultimately, because it protected me from a lot of stuff later on.

Fears started coming up, and these questions started coming up in my mind, because I realized I had never studied Scripture before. So I started asking myself, “Hold on. Why do I really believe what I believe?”

I had experiences and encounters with the Lord before, very significant ones, but there were still questions in the back of my mind that I just brushed off and never asked… because I was scared to. Because if I asked these questions and I get an answer that doesn't line up with what I believed, the entire foundation that I've built my life on comes crumbling down, and I come crashing down with it. But I couldn't avoid them anymore.

I think a lot of times when people come at us, I think in our flesh we want to respond with seeing justice or retribution in some way. But there are times to just let it happen and recognize, “You know what, Lord, I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve walked rightly with you. You handle the situation how you want to see it done.”

We need to have a relationship with and be reconciled back to the Father. We need Jesus, but sometimes we just need to laugh.

I just believe there’s a great power that laughter has, especially in storytelling. It disarms people, it lets people’s guards down. You can communicate a deep message to somebody through comedy and laughter, in ways that a serious approach may never do.


Links Mentioned:

Watch the teaser for Chaz’s What Had Happened Was series coming soon!

Chaz's website.

You can find Chaz’s content on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Tik Tok.

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Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review. 

Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries.

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Verses Mentioned:

Proverbs 17:22

Matthew 7:1–6

1 Samuel 17:32–51 (Story of David & Goliath)


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The Where Ya From? podcast is gearing up for a fifth season which will begin on September 5th. Get ready for more insightful and thought provoking conversations centered around faith and culture with host Rasool Berry. Subscribe to never miss an episode!
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How do you help people explore uncomfortable truths? In this episode of the Where Ya From? podcast, Ya'Ke Smith, the award-winning director of Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom, explains how his life led him to understand that people need to see stories that reflect real life in order to be free from their bondage. Check out this episode of the Where Ya From? podcast by VOICES.

Guest Bio:
Ya’Ke Smith, known for his unflinching and veracious style of storytelling, is a rising voice in independent cinema. His films have received world-wide acclaim, screening, and winning awards at over 100 film festivals. Ya'Ke’s short, Katrina's Son screened at over 40 film festivals and won 14 awards. In 2022, he directed Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom which was widely critically acclaimed. His debut feature, Wolf, which NPR called “an impressive piece by a young director,” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and has gone on to screen and win awards at festivals across North America.
Ya’Ke has been featured on NPR, CNN, HLN, Ebony Online, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine, Variety Magazine, Vogue Magazine, and Shadow&Act. He graduated with his BA from the University of The Incarnate Word, where he later became the youngest recipient of the Alumni of Distinction for Professional Achievement award. He received his MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s film program, where he is currently an Associate Professor of film.

Notes & Quotes:

I began to realize, “Oh, this is God shaping me, allowing me to experience these kinds of tragedies,” but not experience them in such a way that they would damage the human being that I, ultimately, was meant to become. But they would inform that human being. That they would in many ways allow him to see the world and to see people in a very, very different way than most do.

 I was just making films from the point of view of wanting to save people. And I don’t mean save in the sense of church, but save people out of certain circumstances and free them out of whatever bondage they found themselves in. 

I always knew that, “Nah, people want to hear about how to be delivered from their current circumstances.” They want to know, “How can you help me get a job?” “How can we deal with the drugs that are taking over our communities?” That’s how you enter those kinds of conversations. And then from there, then we can start talking about God. 

Our family reunions were centered around Juneteenth for a season because my uncle believed in family getting together, but he also believed in family legacy. We understood our family lineage because of him. And doing this on Juneteenth, and also celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas, becomes a part of that family narrative, it becomes a part of that family story.

When we drove up to the plantation, I honestly started to feel slightly uneasy. I started to walk in front of the big house, and I could just feel the weight of what these individuals had endured to keep this place pristine. The fact that that house is still there, yet the houses that they lived in, basically the wind and rain have just washed it away. 

Without love, they would’ve just been bitter and then gone around killing everybody they could find. And that was not what they wanted. They just wanted to live and be free. And you can only get to that place out of a place of love.


Links Mentioned:

Check out Ya’Ke’s film Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom, produced with Our Daily Bread Ministries. 

Visit our website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email. 

Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review. 

Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries

Follow Where Ya From? on Instagram.

Follow VOICES on Instagram.


Verses Mentioned:
Romans 8

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