PRIDE Devotionals

From Dorcas Kiki - a sample from the Pride Devotional 2023:

“My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, where is thy God?” Psalms 42:3 (King James Bible).

As a transgender person, I did not have to come out to anyone. The changes in my body as I approached teenage made people give me funny nick names. I look back to my life and I wonder why I had to go through all that yet it was something I had no control about. I had not met other people like me and I wondered why. Even the close people to me were as confused as me. Every time I was called names my heart could bleed in the inside, dry tears and sorrowful prayers to God. as a staunch catholic, I would cry holding my rosary and believing there is a God somewhere who listens to my prayers.

I remember one day my big sister asked me “why did you chose this life? I was surprised because if I was given a choice I would never even in my dreams choose to be born a transgender. This is what Lgbtq persons go through here in Kenya. The society thinks it’s something we have chosen and thus we have to live with the consequences. Some says we choose this life so that we can get donor funds and others say we are paid just to say we are queer. There is something I always ask “who can choose this life where you are always at risk of being killed by mob justice and no one can raise a finger, a life of ridicule where they don’t call you by your name. mostly they call us Sodom and Gomorrah. We live in a society that thinks Gods wrath is upon our country because of people like us. Every lgbtq Christian in Kenya can relate to psalms 42. We are ridiculed when we say we are Christians and we are outrightly told we are blaspheming God.

Being lgbtq Christians put us in a position where constantly we question God. yes, our soul’s thirst for God, we yearn to be included in places of worship but our sexuality limits us. 

For the times I have fellowshipped with the lgbtq Christians I have witnessed more tears than in any other congregation. The first time I went into a closed-door night vigil hosted by lgbtq and my life was changed. During prayers everyone knelt down and no one was able to utter a word. They just cried to their God. at the end they would just say the benediction and conclude. 

From that day I became part of this group. I am at peace with my God now. My soul has found rest in God. 

The apostles were ministering the Gospel, they could heal the sick and cast out demons but no one wanted to be associated with them. They were filled by the power of the Holy Spirit and God was working through them. 

I just want to encourage all my Lgbtq Christians, it has not been easy and it will not get easier anytime soon. We have to be vigilant, work together for the common goal. Let us spread the love of Christ.

God bless us all.

From the introduction:

Welcome to our first Pride Devotional!  Many of the authors are veterans of our regular devotional series - some are new and we welcome them with joy.  Our writing prompt for this devotional is:  write about what from scripture(s) from the Bible inspire and comfort you?  And we asked our authors to share a story from their lives. 

Our authors are from around the world and from a variety of perspectives and contexts.  Each one is either an LGBT Christian or someone who is a friend to LGBT Christians.  We have very lightly edited their words so that you will get a true sense of who they are, beloved by God, one and all.  

Pride Month is many things to different people.  To some, Pride Month is always and only in June - to others, Pride Month is celebrated during a different month of the year.  

As a Christian, I have a complicated relationship with the word “pride” - I grew up in church where pride was a sin.  And as I grew, I also learned that having pride in my work was important.  I realized how proud I am of my children, my family, my country.  And later still, when I understood that I am LGBT myself, I learned about Pride month.  At the time I felt so very alone, that there wasn’t anyone like me, an LGBT Christian, in the entire universe.  But then I went to a Pride festival and found LOTS of people like me, all overjoyed to have found others like them.  Christian churches, other faith groups were at the Pride festival, and I learned that faith and love for LGBT is as natural as it is beautiful

Pride month to me is now a time when I notice how people make an effort to come out of their everyday life to make connections with other people - to show support, friendship, and pure love of life.  

This volume is a small slice of that vibrant sense of life, love, friendship and support.  It is intentionally Christian, because there are many LGBT people around the world for whom faith is paramount.  As you will read, that faith comes at a price in a world that often thinks, incorrectly, that God hates LGBT people.

I have found that God loves LGBT people.  And I have also found that the most spiritual people, the people who most closely love and follow Jesus, are LGBT.  

Pride, then, at least in this volume, is the celebration of the abundant life that all of us have found in our Christian faith, despite all odds. As one LGBT Christian said to me, thinking about the challenges we face, “This is what the resurrection looks like.”

May you be blessed by the words in this volume.

And always remember, because it is true:  God loves you.
Yes, I’m talking to you! God love you, exactly who you are.