In a moving gesture of solidarity, a congregation from the Pulela’a Tongan Methodist church, gathered in prayer outside the Imam Reza Mosque in Auckland on Sunday to offer it’s condolences to the victims of the Christchurch mosques shootings. The congregation paid tribute with flowers, hymns and tears.

The Iranian mosque commended the gesture with a statement on its facebook page, “We would like to thank the Tongan Methodist Church for their beautiful solidarity outside Imam Reza Mosque and the Muslim community in NZ…This is what humanity is about! We are all brothers and sisters from one creator.”

Flowers are being laid at the gates and walls of Mosques throughout New Zealand as the nation’s Muslim community receives an outpouring of sympathy since the tragic events of 15 March in which 50 people were killed by a gunman at two mosques in Christchurch.

The IMAM Reza Mosque along with other mosques in New Zealand will be holding a vigil on Friday, marking a week since that the tragedy.