| Women prepare for celebration at retreat  WASHINGTON, D.C. More than 30 women from Mt. Zion UMC, ranging in age from young adult to senior, spent a weekend in March at a spiritual retreat at Massanetta Springs Conference Center in Harrisonburg, Va. The retreat, which was based on the theme A Marys Heart in a Marthas World, was led by the Rev. Dorothea Stroman, pastor of Albright Memorial UMC.
Many of the women found that they were both Martha and Mary combined, said Vanessa Williford. The retreat was one of several activities preparing for the 86th Womens Day Celebration that will take place May 18. Palestinian missionary speaks of hope  WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Rev. Alex Awad, a United Methodist missionary who has served in the Holy Land since 1993, spoke at a symposium at Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington April 13.
Awad, a Palestinian whose family has been Christian for centuries, said that contrary to popular mythology, Arabs and Jews have generally lived peacefully together since the beginning of the Islamic empire in the early 7th century. To obtain Awads book, In the Eyes of the Victim: The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, call (800) 825-0192. For information on local United Methodist activities around the Jewish-Palestinian issues, contact Jim Vitarello, national co-chairman of Middle East Network of United Methodists, at
The text of Awads presentation can be found at www.mfsaweb.org, click on Middle East. Church breaks ground for extension  LUSBY Olivet UMC broke ground for the Good News Center April 6. The building will be an addition to the churchs social hall. The groundbreaking service was led by the Rev. Mary Jane Coleman, superintendent of the Washington East District, and Olivets pastor, the Rev. Sue Shorb-Sterling.
The 70-by-32 foot building will hold five classrooms and two offices. It is expected to be completed in mid-October. Churchs gift blankets wrap up children  UPPER FALLS More than 30 people are involved in making fleece blankets at Salem UMC. Since the project started in February, they have taken 40 blankets to children at a homeless shelter, the University of Marylands childrens cancer center and Mt. Washington Childrens Hospital.
The Warm Fuzzy Program will continue as long as there are children who need a blanket to wrap up in, just as God holds us all in his loving embrace, said Judy Jones, a member of Salem. Youth collect shoes, socks for mission  MARTINSBURG, W. Va. Bethany Hott, a high school freshman and member of St. Lukes UMC, collected 170 pairs of shoes and 50 pairs of socks for a project she and two friends initiated at James Wood High School in Winchester, Va. At projects end they will send the shoes for distribution to children around the world through Shoes for Orphan Souls, a nonprofit organization based in Dallas, Texas.
The project has caught on with her church, and the missions committee made it a Lenten project. | 
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