Skip to main content

'We Need One Another': CeCe Winans, Tyler Perry Issue Challenges of Hope During Coronavirus Crisis

Share This article

Gospel singer CeCe Winans is encouraging people to spread love and hope during the global coronavirus pandemic.

She has issued the #CountOnMeChallenge, which according to its website exists to "let the people in your community and beyond know that they can count on you, and to shine a light on the people you've been able to count on."

Winans, who has been making music for more than three decades, posted a video about the challenge on Instagram, singing the chorus of her hit song, "Count on Me." It's a song the singer made with Whitney Houston 25 years ago to celebrate their friendship and the power of relying on others in tough times.

Winans said the song's message is more relevant today than ever.  

"The song is just perfect for now," Winans told CBN News.  "Cause we have to be able to count on people. As much as we think we have it all together, no matter how famous you are or non-famous or how much money you have or how much money you don't have, God created it so that we would need one another.  And that we would have to count on one another."

"Even in the midst of this crisis that we're in, we can count on one another," she says in the Instagram post that has more than 2,000 comments. "You can look around and you can see the love and the unity. People are running errands for one another. We're letting you know where you can buy toilet tissue and it's just been a beautiful thing to see."

"So, we want to continue to help one another and to be able to count on one another," she added. "So, I want to challenge you or invite you to be a part of the #CountOnMeChallenge. I'm challenging you to love somebody, to look out for someone."

Meanwhile, filmmaker Tyler Perry also hopes to spread some inspiration during the pandemic through the "He's Got the Whole World," challenge.

The challenge involves Perry singing a verse of the gospel song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and then recruiting other singers to add verses to the song.

"It's my hope that we add to this simple song in every language from every nation as we let it become a prayer for our whole world," he said in a video post on Instagram.

"And remember it's all in God's hands!" Perry continued.

The video has over 1 million views on Instagram and hundreds of thousands are taking part, including celebrities like Oprah, Usher, Yolanda Adams, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Travis Green, and others.

Meanwhile, Winans hopes the caring goes beyond this latest health crisis.

"I think it's time for all of us to have a new norm.  Let's make some changes and let's not go back.  Let's have a new norm of caring for one another.  I think this crisis has made us all realize that we're more alike than we are different. We should care for everyone the same way, no matter where they are in the world because it's showing us this world, as big as it is, becomes really small when you're dealing with a pandemic like this," Winans said.

FOR CBN NEWS CONTINUING COVERAGE ON COVID-19, CLICK HERE

Share This article

About The Author

Charlene Aaron
Charlene
Aaron

Charlene Aaron serves as a general assignment reporter, news anchor, co-host of The 700 Club, co-host of 700 Club Interactive, and co-host of The Prayerlink on the CBN News Channel. She covers various social issues, such as abortion, gender identity, race relations, and more. Before joining CBN News in 2003, she was a personal letter writer for Dr. Pat Robertson. Charlene attended Old Dominion University and Elizabeth City State University. She is an ordained minister and pastor’s wife. She lives in Smithfield, VA, with her husband.