Prayers and solidarity for our Asian American community

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Romans 12:15 KJV).

Pastor Paul tailored this text to teach Christ-followers to be partners with each other even in our feelings and emotions. Nothing demonstrates or communicates our love and sincerity for one another more than recognizing and connecting with others during their high and low seasons of life. As fellow believers, we display our love for one another by empathizing with each other during our seasons of celebration and allowing ourselves to experience each other’s brokenness during our seasons of suffering.

In light of the shooting deaths of six Asian Americans and two Anglo Americans in the Atlanta area March 16, as well as the ongoing violence against Asian Americans, the Converge Office of Biblical Diversity sends and lifts up our prayers and condolences for our Asian American community.

Even though all of the details are not known at this time, we encourage our Converge family to stand in solidarity with our Asian American brothers and sisters and weep with them as they weep during this season. We ask that you pause and lament with the Asian American community experiencing the tragic loss in their community today and affirm that Asian Lives Matter, too!

Related: Hope for a racially divided nation

Several Asian communities are part of our movement, including Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Mien and Hmong churches. We not only ask you to pray with and for these communities; we also encourage you to send emails to let them know that you are standing with them and are lamenting their grief, pain and anxiety. 

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Asian American community has been subjected to racist violence and persecution as they are being blamed for the spread of the coronavirus in this country.

Hate crimes against the Asian American community have escalated. It has been reported that most Asian Americans are feeling the violence against them is being dismissed and that their struggles and even their very existence are invisible in this country.

Racism is a real issue that is violating and affecting all our communities. It is past time for us to come together to break the cycle of violence that is hijacking our humanity. The signs of the time are challenging us to wake up, stand up and speak up against the evils of hate and racism.

As Pastor Paul taught us to “weep with those who weep,” we join the pain and the brokenness of the Asian American community and the families who are grieving the tragic loss of their loved ones due to hate and violence.

It is my prayer that God will deliver us from our fears, that God will come quickly to rescue us from evil, and that God will come and save us from the abomination of hate and violence that we may each know and enjoy this life more abundantly.