The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) mourns with the Asian American community at the news of at least 10 lost lives in Monterey Park, California, during Lunar New Year celebrations. While cultural celebrations should be times for families and communities to come together safely, these attacks have exacerbated fear and trauma for many in the Asian American community.

This tragedy brings to mind other mass shootings of the past year, including in Colorado Springs, Virginia, Buffalo and Uvalde. We are continually grieved by the senseless loss of lives. Because God created human beings in his image, every human life from conception to death bears the image of God and has inestimable worth (Genesis 1:27). We join with families and communities in mourning the lives that were lost. We know that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).