SIKESTON TEACHER TO SING PRAYER BREAKFAST HYMN

SIKESTON -- The song has been a part of her personal religious services for as long as Marlys Smith can remember. It's a ~portion of her heritage, her life.

But this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington the words of "Amazing Grace" will present a harmony like no other she has experienced in her lifetime.

Smith, a third-grade teacher at Sikeston's Matthews Elementary School, will sing the first verse of the traditional hymn as a solo, then lead the contingent of more than 4,000 through an additional three verses of the song.

She was nominated to sing at the breakfast by U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, who ~this year chairs the non-partisan event.

Dignitaries from 140 countries as well as President and Mrs. Bill Clinton, Vice President and Mrs. Al Gore and numerous congressional officials will attend. Smith will sit at the head table with ~the Clintons and the Gores.

"Amazing Grace" will serve as the closing song and will follow remarks by Clinton~.

Smith joked about always wanting to follow in the steps of a president. She said, "But maybe not this close; I'm getting pretty nervous.

"I have dreams that I forget the words, so I've been going to my old voice teacher in Charleston to get in some extra practice.

~Emerson chose "~~Amazing Grace" as the event's closing song, but Smith said no other hymn could be more special to her.

"~~All of my mom's brothers loved that song ~and I can remember all the way back to about ~~5 years old, that any time our family got together, that was always sung with a lot of good harmony and a lot of love," she said.

Singing in front o~f the Washington ~elite, including past presidents, is nothing new for Smith. When a high-school graduate in 1971, she was a member of "America's Youth in Concert," a group that performed for then-President Richard Nixon at Constitution Hall in Washington.~

The group also sang at Carnegie Hall in New York, then traveled to Europe where it performed in England, France, Belgium and Italy.

~~~~"I've sung in front of this many people before, but it was always in a group," she said. "I've never soloe~d in front of this many before."

But the National Prayer Break fast event will be special from mor~e than a personal standpoint, she said

"This is such a privilege to let th~e Lord use me as a vessel of his love,' she said. "~It's overwhelming for his message to reach this many peopl~e through me. I want this to b~e something that I can do as praise to the Lord, not something for my glory."

Smith said another highlight of the morning will be meeting the Rev. Billy Graham, who will deliver a morning message of unity at the breakfast.

"The purpose of this is to bypass all political parties and find some common ground with the Lord as a moving force for all of us," Smith said,

By soloing at the event, Smith's name will be placed alongside other noted Prayer Breakfast gospel soloists such as Sandi Patti, Jim Nabors, George Beverly Shea and Sissy Houston.

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