Ignite the Season: Inspiring Youth, Faith, and the True Meaning of Christmas
Hope your jingle bells are sparkling and ready to go, because we’ve got a Christmas edition of the WeShare Podcast that’s sure to raise your holiday spirit! Anthony Cummings, key part of the Ignite Youth Leadership Program, is on the mic to share about the incredible work happening with youth in southern California, and how they share Christ’s love this Christmas season and beyond.
BM: Let’s start by getting to know you! Can you share a little bit about yourself and your journey with Ignite, and what led you to this mission?
AC: The Lord challenged me—Jesus spoke through a friend who said, “If you had 3 million dollars, what would you do? Just dream, just go.” And so I sat down quietly in my prayer closet and I just put on music and took a whiteboard and started dreaming with God. And He put on my heart to take sports, take leadership and faith, and mold them together but to do it different. Don’t do a traditional soccer league, don’t do a traditional basketball league. Empower the youth—think of a robust afterschool program—but to then pour into their younger peers…that concept of taking leaders and building them up to pour into younger kids then transferred into “bake this whole thing into the love of God.” And so that’s where Ignite was born.
BM: Since we’re in the Christmas season, let’s talk about how Ignite connects with the message of Jesus during this special time. How does the program help youth reflect on the true meaning of Christmas?”
AC: We’re always bringing Jesus into what we do. I just want that to be known. We are always bringing Jesus at the center. Practically what we try to do is talk about “model the way”. I may not have the voice of a 14 or 15 year old, but I can model with my actions. Our Santa Ana group does what’s called a Surprise Santa, and they with another youth leadership group gather toys for kids, wrap the toys, and then go around to a designated neighborhood and give away toys, engage in prayer, and then afterwards we have a discussion about how does this reflect the heart of God, how does this reflect Jesus. We’re saying, “How do you think Christmas played out in that scenario?” What we believe, too, in Ignite is that Jesus did a large part of His ministry in the street…we try to think how our soccer ball, our food pantry, Surprise Santa, a basketball, that’s all out metaphorically in the streets. And so that’s what we try to model.
Anthony’s passion is contagious, so you’ll likely come away from this episode brimming with that holly jolly Christmas joy!
Listen wherever you subscribe to podcasts, and we’ll be back with more stories of faith, community, and purpose in 2025!
