Side-by-side , CeCe and Alvin created something special . To fully appreciate the depth of their collaboration , however , one needs to look back a few years ; fifteen to be precise . For it was at that point that CeCe felt the Holy Spirit nudging her in a new direction . “ An evangelist visited my home church about 15 years ago and prophecied over my husband that he would pastor . At the time , we didn ’ t pay much attention to it and I tucked it away ,” she shares . “ About five years later , we kept hearing over and over that we would be pastors . Again , though , we didn ’ t really move on it because we didn ’ t necessarily feel qualified . We just loved God and loved people . We soon came to find out that that ’ s all He wants .” While CeCe and her husband continued to ponder this call on their lives , God was already setting things in motion that would ultimately take the decision out of their hands . It was during this season of prophecy that their son , Alvin , was struggling . “ My son was going through a traumatic season and went to live in Australia for a while ,” she says . “ A friend invited him to a church down there and God completely transformed his life . When he came back home , he went to lunch with his friends and they all got saved . Not long after , he asked if he could hold a Bible study at our house . The first time , about 20 of his peers showed up . The next time it was 80 .” The numbers continued to increase week after week until , soon enough , CeCe and her family realized that this was more than a Bible study ; this was the foundation of the church they had been called to pastor . “ When we first heard God ’ s calling , we prayed that He would make it clear ,” says CeCe . “ I also prayed and believed that if this were truly the path we were intended to take , He would call us all . Sure enough , our kids were not only supportive ; they were deeply involved from the beginning . They would call me with ideas for the church or lead us all in prayer for someone else . As a mom , you pray that your kids will get it and see that living for Him is the best life you could ever live . When they really get it , it ’ s the most amazing thing . God truly is so faithful .” Today , the church , which adopted the name Nashville Life Church , meets every Sunday in Nashville , Tennessee with CeCe and her husband both pastoring and teaching . “ Teaching the Word of God is amazing ,” says CeCe . “ Songs are awesome to set the atmosphere and inviting people to worship . He loves it and we benefit from it . Teaching people and making disciples is another whole level of ministry . The Word is a lamp and a light .
Teaching others how to apply it , walking with people and helping them understand what holiness looks like in 2017 is amazing . My husband and I are seeing God ’ s faithfulness from generation to generation .” As CeCe continues to pour herself into a new generation , they too are pouring into her . Working with her son not only opened up new avenues of creativity , but also lent a fresh perspective and cultural relevance to the music . “ It was a little weird to take direction from my son , but he had the ears and he was right ,” she says proudly . “ He reminded me of the work that goes into creating a project like this .” While the work was hard , diligence won the day . As CeCe reflects on the creative process , her home church and the career God has allowed her to build , it ’ s seems as though things have come full circle . And at the center of it all is the one thing that unites us all ; the one thing that overcomes , embraces , challenges and frees us ; the one thing that invites us to simply fall — love .
For more , visit cecewinans . com .
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19 PAGE | ICONIC MAGAZINE