| Asbury staffer records song for troops GAITHERSBURG When U.S. forces were deployed to the Persian Gulf to fight the Iraqi War , it brought back days of anxiety and memories to Alexis McKenzie, Asbury Villages director of community and public relations. She turned to music to express the way she felt, and composed the lyrics and melody to Come Home in the Light, a mothers plea for the safe return of servicemen and women. McKenzie remembered the anguish and worry she felt while her son served in the Navy on a nuclear sub during the first Gulf War. I wanted to let the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors who wait anxiously for the return of their loved ones, know that they are not alone, McKenzie said. To hear the song, visit her Web site, http://alexis.mckenzie.home.att.net. She is contributing proceeds from the single to the USO. School garden to remember 9/11 victims WASHINGTON, D.C. All 400 students at M.V. Leckie Elementary School in southwest Washington left a handprint in the cement along a walkway that is turning a barren area into a flowering memorial to their teacher Hilda Taylor, 62, and student Bernard Brown, 11, who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Two parents will also be memorialized. Taylor, a native of Sierra Leone, and member of Ryland-Epworth UMC, had taught at the school for many years. She was accompanying her pupil on a National Geographic-sponsored field trip when their plane crashed into the Pentagon. The hand-printed walkway is the completion of the first major phase of the memorials construction, which will be finished by summers end with the addition of three connected gardens, planted with flowering bushes. New church building started CHURCHVILLE May 10 marked a 10-year effort by  a small congregation to expand their facilities, when ground was broken for a new $1.5 million church building next to Clarks Chapel. The Rev. Will Butler led the service, which was attended by the Baltimore-Harford District superintendent, the Rev. Mark Derby, the churchs building committee, the architect and contractor. Clarks Chapel UMC has been a fixture in the community since 1855, but the congregation has outgrown the space. The new building will seat 250 in the sanctuary and have a fellowship hall, offices and classrooms. After refurbishing the existing chapel, it will be used as a multi-purpose building for various community ministries, Butler said. Pre-conference briefing signed SILVER SPRING From the first word at the pre-conference briefing at Marvin Memorial UMC on April 26 to the benediction, Margaret Stanton saw to it that deaf people would be able to participate. She signed the whole three-hour program. When it came time to hear the recommendations from the deaf ministry, Dan Kenyon signed and spoke the Committee on Deaf Ministries presentation. Stanton translated the audiences spoken questions into sign for Kenyon who could not hear. The recommendations that will be acted upon at annual conference ask for the conference to support a petition requesting the Northeastern Jurisdiction to provide $10,000 per quadrennium for interpretation services; and a petition to General Conference 2004 authorizing $350,000 for the National Committee of Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind People. Young athlete aspires to go Down Under BALTIMORE Kisha Thomas, 16, a member of Elderslie-St. Andrews UMC, is a gifted athlete and all-round student, according to her pastor, the Rev. Robert Walker Jr. Kisha is active in our sound ministry, youth group, ushers, sings and baby-sits, Walker said. She attends Randallstown High School where she has qualified for the state finals in track in the 55 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter and 200 meter relay team. She has also been selected to represent the United States running track on the Down Under Sports Tour this summer. Her pastor is now appealing for financial assistance to help her raise the $4,000 to cover airfare, food and lodging while in Australia. Checks may be written to Kisha Thomas and sent to her mother who is setting up a special account for the donations, to Camille Bernal-Helices, 3103 Glen Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215. | 
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