PREFACE<br >Herb Schmidt<br >Because of the Civil War<br >million refugees have been created<br >in El Salvador， more than one<br >More than fifty-one thousand<br >civilians--women， children， and men not involved in the military or<br >with the guerrillas--have been murdered or have disappeared. Thir-<br >ty-five priests， nuns， and pastors have been assassinated in the last<br >five years. Since President Duarte s election in April 1984， the situ-<br >ation in the cities has changed. The death squads remain intact， but<br >they are being to a considerable ~ xtent restrained. Only two hundred<br >fifty death squad assassinations were recorded in 1984， and there<br >were only somewhat more than tw~etve hundred other killings of non-<br >，combatants recorded. But what does not appear in the official lists is<br >the unknown but enormous number of noncombatant old people and<br >children killed by aerial bombardment and in ground sweeps by the<br >Salvadoran army in areas controlled by the popular forces. Such is<br >the basic situation that has forced refugees to flee to "safe haven" in<br >this country. Many of those deported back to their homeland have<br >faced rape， imprisonment， torture， even death. Those are the facts<br >and events that have prompted religious communities to respond by<br > providing sanctuary， as part of the movement that is the subject of<br > this book.<br > What you will find in this smal<br >soned， intellectual， dispassionate<br >of the sanctuary movement. It i<br >I book is not an academically sea-<br >theological or political discussion<br >s， rather， a passionate， involved，<br >soul-searching， intellectually challenging， theologically penetrat-<br >ing， personal expression by scholars， refugees， and sanctuary work-<br >ers reflecting on the existential struggle to be faithful to our visions<br >of faith with committed action that challenges the oppressive "prin-<br >cipalities and powers" of our day. It is our hope that these pages will<br >help many more individuals and faith communities to become aware<br ><br >