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David and Marie Hazell returned to the U.S. in 2000 after living in Russia for 8 years working on Bible translation. David became a Christian in 1977 and began praying for Siberia, Mongolia, and China. When Marie and David married in 1982 both had a heart for missionary service. In 1985 they discovered that there was a group of minority people called Evenki that lived in China, Mongolia and Siberia. Matching David's original vision they began praying for the Evenki. In 1992, shortly after communist walls began to fall, they moved their family with 5 children to the depths of Siberia where they assisted with printing the first Scripture portion in the Evenki language. Last year they printed a Children's New Testament and this year the Gospel of Luke. David and Marie have recently served in Moscow assisting with coordinating translation projects in 70 minority languages of the former Soviet Union. They moved back to the US in April of 2000. They now have 6 children: Esther, Timon, Zephan, Alida, Sarah and Sonja.
Marie Hazell is a Speech and Language Specialist with a Master's degree. After completing her degree, she taught in a special language kindergarten where her interest in teaching children and adapting to their various learning styles developed. Choosing to further her skills and abilities, she returned to university to complete the program needed to gain a full California K-12 teaching credential. She then taught Kindergarten and First Grade in a Christian school. Sometimes these were combined in one classroom, which challenged her to develop a program that catered to both strong and weak learners often at different levels. Combining her background in the educational system with the fact that she was now mothering 4 children, she realized the importance of the family in the educational process. She decided to study the homeschool market and was impressed by the ocean of innovative ideas available, but also saw weaknesses that needed to be strengthened in order to help parents be fully successful. Combining all her experience and knowledge, she developed a program taking the best of both worlds and tried to make it fully applicable to both homeschools and classrooms. She wanted to strengthen the traditional classroom, providing teachers many of the new ideas found in homeschool programs and strengthen the homeschool program by giving it clear enough structure not to overlook the real needs of the child, and yet maintaining the freedom and flexibility that makes the homeschool successful.
Mary Leggewie
Sunday, 11 August 2002
Thank you so much for joining us this week, David & Marie! We praise the Lord that your home was spared in the Colorado fires and that we were able to reschedule your time here. I look forward to what this week will bring!
May God bless your time sharing here!
Mary
Response #1
Marie
Monday, 12 August 2002
And we thank you, Mary, for the invitation to share on your message board this week.
As Mary mentioned, we were affected by the large wildfires in Colorado this summer. For two weeks we were evacuated from our home -- which is where our office is also located! We live in the mountains on 5 acres. The fire was within one mile of our home. You can imagine how intently we watched each news brief that came on the television.
When we were able to return, we were so thankful. Nothing had been touched on our property. There was not even a smell of smoke in our home. And even though the fire burned very close, you can only see green from our house.
God kept our business going even in the midst of this confusion. Our customers were so kind and understanding and we knew they were praying for us. We were able to get all of our records and inventory out of our house before the forced evacuations when no one was allowed into their home. A dear woman in a nearby city offered to do all our shipping for us -- our answering machine kept functioning -- and we were able to keep shipping out orders even while evacuated!
The fire touched my heart in a different way, too. We are in a real battle here on earth. God is seeking to rescue people from the "fire" of death and living in eternal misery because of his great Father's heart. Even if people can't "see" it and don't believe it, there is a fire raging that seeks to destroy them. May He use each one of us to wake people up -- the fire is coming -- but there is Someone who seeks to rescue them and give them eternal joy.
Encouraging you to live for the kingdom --
Marie
We just got out curriculum in the mail...Anne/KS Hi We just got our MFW curriculum in the mail last week. My boys are so excited! They are 8 and 5. We weren't going to start school til the 19th, but they were so excited that we are starting today! I have a home child care also, so I am going to have my hands full. Everything is so well laid out though, that I am confident that we will be able to handle it. I don't have a question, I just want to say thanks! We are thrilled to be using your materials this year! Anne in KS |
NM Stephanie
Tuesday, 13 August 2002
I think you have wonderful curriculum, but I am out of that age group. I will put it on my list of sites to recommend to friends with younger children. God bless, it looks great.
Allie
Tuesday, 13 August 2002
It looks wonderful.
I have no experience with missions work, but would very much love to teach my children and get them involved in it. Do you have any specific recommendations for getting children involved in missions? My boys are 10 and 8. We wouldn't be able to actually travel, unless the Lord intervenes, but I want them aware of the need to tell others about Jesus and have a heart for the lost. We're currently praying for my brother, who after 3 years just asked for a bible, which we promptly went out and bought!
I want my boys to know that having the love of Jesus means DOING something about it. I'm at a loss, I came late to the Lord, and just don't know where to start. How do you involve your children?
Thanks so much, and welcome to our board! I'm so very pleased to meet you!
Response #1
Marie
Tuesday, 13 August 2002
I read your letter earlier today and wasn't sure how to best answer. Then this afternoon I went for our mail and there was a magazine from Wycliffe Bible Translators. As I read it, I got tears in my eyes, realizing that this would be helpful to you and others.
Wycliffe is an international organization committed to translating the Bible worldwide. David and I trained with them several summers and have worked closely with them. You and your kids might check out their kids website at http://www.wycliffe.org/kids/ They have information, games, and activities there. You can also sign up to pray for a Bibleless people group. Just imagine -- there are many people in the world for whom there is no Bible at all in their language. Wycliffe also has a new illustrated book (and CD) about 26 people groups around the world who don't have a Bible ($9.95) called "Akebu to Zapotec."
We have also developed a full year homeschool curriculum that can be taught to 2nd-6th graders, called "Exploring Countries and Cultures in My Father's World." Your family will take a trip around the world and explore diverse cultures while learning geography and science and being challenged by true stories of missionaries. This is a complete program (you just add math and language arts) that includes art projects and songs from around the world, hands-on projects such as making flags and maps, and so much more. And it's easy to teach!
One of the books in the package (also available separately) is called "Window on the World" and shares current information and prayer needs for 26 countries and 26 people groups. It is a beautifully illustrated book with kid-friendly information. You can select one country or group each Monday, locate the area on a world map, and pray for the listed prayer needs all week. This will help your kids to see the world through God's eyes. It enables kids to already be involved in important kingdom work.
Our kids have also been involved in little projects. They have saved up their money and helped provide children's Bibles to Russian kids in orphanages. (Contact us if you would like info on this.) They have helped make sandwiches and given them out to homeless people in a park....and they with Daddy's help could then talk with people about their spiritual needs. They have made cookies with Grandma and been "God's arms" to a lonely person. They have bought little presents (with their own money) and filled a Christmas Box for children in Mexico. Our kids are already asking about doing that again....I think you will find that giving will be a real joy to your family and give a new perspective on life.
Thank you for letting me share about something that is so dear to my heart.
Kysa
Thursday, 15 August 2002
My oldest is 22 and graduated from a Christian college with a degree in plant science. He has been on two short-term mission trips.
He is still considering full-time mission work--working with agriculture. So far, the only missionary organizations he is familiar with do all their agricultural mission work in tropical countries. Since you were in Russia, I wanted to know if there was any food or agricultural mission work there that you were aware of either in Russia or nearby countries. Trever REALLY wants to stay in a temperate climate. (Okay, he is nuts to like snow so much, but that is what he thinks.)
Kysa
Response #1
David Hazell
Friday, 16 August 2002
Our best suggestion is to contact some Christian organization such as InterCristo (http://www.intercristo.com) which tries to match mission and service opportunities with specific interests and qualifications of a potential Christian worker via computer search. They have a very broad base. There may be a small charge for this service. We are unaware of any specific organizations that work in Russia or surrounding countries in agriculture but we are confident they exist.
NM Stephanie
Friday, 16 August 2002
has always been interested in missions. She has started participating in the missions board at our church and went to Mexico this year for 3 days and would love to go back. I have discussed with my husband about her doing missions and he is very cautious and doesn't want her roaming around anywhere real soon. Do you know of any organizations that can help with getting her involved in missions? Any suggestions for books forher to read etc. Thank you very much
Response #1
David Hazell
Friday, 16 August 2002
We are very glad that you are encouraging your daughter to follow her mission desires. It is always difficult for parents to let go of our young ones especially in cross-cultural situations. Our children have traveled with us and have been on teams without us to Sweden, Mexico, and throughout Russia. When we do this, we check out organizations, we pray as a family for God's confirmation, and we trust God to protect them as we let them go with God's blessings. OF COURSE THEN we PRAY FERVENTLY as all nervous parents would while they are gone.
We recommend starting by contacting Youth With a Mission (YWAM). They are a solid Christian organization that has programs for youth and their parents -- We believe they have a program called "King Kids". It might ease your husband's concerns if he were to join her on her next trip.
We are sure they are accessible on the web if you search for them. Also see the previous message in response to matching mission desires and our reference to Intercristo.
Erikda
Friday, 16 August 2002, at 11:00 p.m.
Hi,
I think your curriculum sounds/looks wonderful!
I was reading the description for the 2nd-6th grade program and it said that a language arts program is available through you. What is your language arts program, where can I find out more about it?
What Language Arts & Math curriculums do you recommend?
Thank you for producing a seemingly wonderful program!
Response #1
Marie Hazell
Saturday, 17 August 2002
Our family has found several easy-to-use resources for language arts that fit our philosophy well, and we recommend using them with our 2-6th grade programs.
We use Primary Language Lessons (Grades 2-3) and Intermediate Language Lessons (Grades 4-6). Why do we use and recommend them? They are inexpensive and may be reused for any number of children. They are not workbooks, and many of the lessons may be done orally. Lessons are completed quickly -- 15 minutes 3x a week. They have a Charlotte Mason flavor, and present a very broad range of English skills.....poem memorization (the poems are wonderful), study of paintings, punctuation, proper English usage, oral language skills such as narration and simple debates, letter writing, and more. The moral tone is excellent.
For composition, we begin our children in Writing Strands Level 3 once they are in 3rd grade. Again, it is an easy-to-use program that has each lesson already planned. After using it one year, my 5th grader started carrying a notebook and writing stories in her free time--she told me, "Mom, I never knew how to write a story until I learned in Writing Strands."
For spelling, we use Spelling Power. It isn't for those who want a spelling workbook, as it is primarily a huge list of words. But we find it is very time-effective as children only study words that they miss.
We are still evaluating math programs....
Feel free to call us for more information. You can also request a free catalog from us to learn more about these resources.
Marie Hazell
My Father's World
info@mfwbooks.com
719-748-9031
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