My Trip to the Gay Pride Festival

A few days ago I went to San Francisco on a trip with some friends. The only thing we had on our agenda was love.  While we were down there we  went to this event called Off the Grid it was an event with music and over 30 food trucks (I highly recommend going!), the Golden Gate Bridge, Union Square, and the Tenderloin all to release God's love. We saw God encounter drug dealers, prostitutes, people coming off of methadone, the homeless, and the gay community.

We went specifically to love on people at the 43rd Annual Gay Pride event. They estimated 1 million people would be involved either in the festival or the parade June 29-30. As our team was talking and praying for the event. A church leader down there a BSSM illumni named Rebecca was sharing some wisdom with us. She asked if we had any questions for her about the event. I said, "So I am assuming at some point during Gay Pride someone will ask us something along the lines of 'since you follow Jesus or are a Christian, what do you think of my lifestyle?' so Rebecca how would you respond in that scenario?" She said, "Well I would say to them it isn't my job to judge you. The one whose job that is, is thinking nothing but good things about you. His thoughts towards you outnumber the grains of sand on the seashores." After she said that our team was feeling pretty pumped, full of compassion, and excited for what God would do.


We headed down towards the event on our walk from the parking garage to the event everything looked like my usual experience in San Fran; busy streets, cafes, dozens of homeless people, trash in the streets, and  beautiful views. When we walked into the event we saw rainbows galore, very immodestly dressed people, couples everywhere both heterosexual and homosexual, drag queens, large stages with people dancing, the smell of marijuana and the smell of San Francisco food trucks, The whole scene reminded me of an MTV Spring Break. I thought this place is exactly where God is and I am so glad I am here. The same Jesus who was called a friend of Prostitutes and sinners, the Jesus who tells us light shines best in darkness, the Jesus who heals the brokenhearted, and sets people free, the Jesus who has an answer to every problem in world history is here.

We split in teams of twos and threes and went around loving people. Our team hugged a drag queen and prophesied over him. Then I saw this guy who I had met earlier with a free hug sign. I decided to sit in the grass next to him. I then told him I had a spiritual reading for him (a prophetic word) I began to tell him, "I see you are really introverted but have been doing things to break out of your shell. You are in a season where you have had a lot of new ideas lately for your future." I said some other things as well. He said "Whoa, how do you know all that about me? I am here doing this hug thing by myself so I can start to feel more comfortable around people. However it isn't working so I am about to go to Burger King and do these drugs." He pointed to his back pocket and proceeded to tell me about some heavy drugs that you eat. He was at the event doing them and selling them.I then told him about the Presence and how much God is thinking about him and how good he is. I told him that his drugs couldn't even compare in the slightest to God's Presence. He said later he would probably check the Presence out. I told him could do it whenever he wanted and I gave him some tips to experiencing God's Presence.

Many people at Pride were prophesied over and they were shocked and how we knew things about  them. We would tell them Jesus was the reason we knew and that He deeply loves them. Lots of the team saw people healed. We were really sensitive about if and when we would ask people in this particular location if they wanted to give their life to Jesus. Tons of people at the Gay Pride Festival were encouraged and we are dreaming about how to make a massive impact in that culture in the future. It was a good day and a very eye opening experience.

Later that night we went back to the awesome church that was hosting us and encouraged them with testimonies of what God is doing in their city. We saw dozens of people healed including a women with a growth on her chest that went up to the top of her armpit dissolve entirely.


Thanks For Reading. 



Maybe you are reading this and you are living a gay lifestyle.

I want to encourage you and tell you God loves you and looks at you with eyes of love.
If you want to ask Jesus into your life you should it's the best decision you will ever make. He will come into your life and make everything new. He will restore you, heal you, and love on you. Feel free to email me at naomigracewest@yahoo.com