The DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice was organized in the spring of 1985
by representatives from several local churches. The purpose of the organization was to educate
the community about the U.S. role in the civil war in El Salvador, the death squads in Guatemala
and El Salvador, and the Contras terrorizing the Nicaraguan countryside.
According to an August 5, 1995 letter found in the collection, the Interfaith Network was
formed “by members of several local congregations in order to pool our efforts on issues of
common concern. Our initial focus was on ending U.S. support for the wars in Central America
and we continue to raise funds to support victims of these conflicts and the subsequent economic
disaster befalling the region, including pre-school children in Managua and indigenous
communities on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast. Our focus has since broadened to include a variety
of peace and justice issues on which we have sought to educate ourselves and the community. In
addition to publishing a Newsletter four times a year, we have sponsored many programs for the
public, at times bringing in speakers from around the world.”

To learn more, see the documents stored on line by the Joiner Local History Room