To be a teacher...

At last I've got an update.

I'm going to attribute my scarce blogging to impatience. The internet jugs a long at a very slow pace when attempting to access certain websites, blogger happens to be one of those sites. Recently the connection had sped up so I think that it will be fair to expect more updates.

Time is going by really quickly. It's hard to believe that it is already almost November. This feeling that time is moving so quickly hit me today as I walked into my school. The first day of school, my friend and roommate Ted brought Micah and I to school. It was a very overwhelming feeling to be entering a high school campus the same size as my college campus with twice as many children, all speaking a foreign language. Every single one between the ages of 12 and 18 and flying higher then a kite on the first day of school.

Today Ted came back with us for the first time since our first day. What a difference 2 months makes. Today I was leading Ted into school. Of the 2,000 or so kids that are on the campus, I know 450 of them. When I walk into school their is no longer a feeling of uncertainty, this feeling has been replaced with joy. It's exciting to walk into school and meet 450 eager 12 year olds who love to say, "Hello Mr. Matt!"

G()d has greatly blessed my teaching. I love to teach with Micah and our kids are so eager to learn. We have very few discipline problems, and most of our kids seem to be learning new things every class. I'm sure that our classes make a mockery of the teaching that is done in the U.S.A. Class sort of feels like a variety show featuring songs, stories, acting, inside jokes and made up characters.

This will be a time of my life which I'm sure will be in part defined by teaching. I spend most of my time teaching or preparing to teach. I am currently teaching 20 class periods a week and 4 studies. Soon I will start 1 on 1 instruction and might even start some tutoring.

Teaching the Word has been awesome. It's one of the coolest feelings to be digging in the Word and other sources in order answer questions. It's incredibly rewarding because I get to share simple truths with people who have never heard them, but most importantly want to hear them. At the same time my own f*ith is edified.

Teaching has been humbling. Here I am, a graduate from a very specialized college with almost no knowledge of science, math, politics, law. I teach lawyers, professors, and students from Peking (Harvard of China), Microsoft engineers. Each day reminds me of these words, "But G()d chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; G()d chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Chris Jesu, who has become for us wisdom from G()d that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

I think Him every day for friends who are humble. They are willing to sacrifice their prestige, in order to learn the Word. They speak in a language not their own, they cannot fully express their ideas, and they are taught by people who have far less prestige.

G()d is great.

Matthew James Werner

Great Wall

The Great Wall of China is massive. I don’t if all of you knew that but it’s huge. It winds and winds and seemingly never stops. It was one of the few tourist sites in China that I really anticipated visiting. I was unsure of what

it would be like to see the fabled wall. I’m sure that you could Google Great Wall jokes and find about a million one liners mocking the Chinese for building a wall to protect a country. I’m sure you could also Google image search the Great Wall and find a few breathtaking photos. These two distinctly different views were in my mind as I eagerly anticipated viewing t

he wall.

Well a few weeks ago I was privileged to go and view the Great Wall. I was privileged because I was able to go and view the wall in an unorthodox manner. Micah and I recently made friends with a Chinese man named Larry. We met Larry while playing basketball. We ate dinner with Larry once. The next day Micah and I were being driven Larry’s Mom

’s Car. She had no idea her son was taking two Americans to the Great Wall. Larry had told her that the car would not leave Beijing. The Great Wall is 90 minutes from Beijing. Larry had known Micah and me for two days!

Larry brought his friend Ted and we all went and saw the Great Wall. The Great Wall is a tribute to man power. It is a legitimate source of national pride. Many people died to create the Wall, but today it stands as a magnificent testament to the man power that only China can muster.

My journey to the Great Wall is a testament to the friendliness of the Chinese people. Two young men took their entire day to take two Americans that they hardly knew to the Great Wall. They drove us there. They took us to an amazing restaurant. They answered all of our questions. They took pictures with us. They helped us barter for t-shirt

s. There hospitality is something that I will never forget.

China.

Dear Friends,

I would like to welcome you to my blog. As many of you know I have spent the last three weeks in Beijing, China. I will be spending the next 10 months here, and while I'm here I would like to keep you all posted with the many things that have been going on in my life.

The last three weeks have been a blur, but here's the breakdown. I make it to China safe and sound. On the flight to Newark, my eardrum nearly exploded, but other than that everything went smoothly. The flight from Newark to Beijing was probably the most difficult part of the whole trip, simply because it was when reality finally set it. I was in a row of strangers on a plain full of Asians with a TV screen loaded with movies and a hot dog in a plastic wrap.When you have a hot dog in a plastic wrap, you can't sleep, and all the tension from leaving your friends and family behind hits what can you do but pr*y.

I love the food in China, I love the people, and I love my job. Currently my teaching job is rather cushy. I teach a total of ten periods a week! All the same lesson! Not only that Micah and I co-teach. Supposedly things will change. Micah and I are suppose to have our own classes and we are suppose to each teach 2o periods a week., but who knows if this will ever happen.

Friday was Teacher's Day. Teacher's Day in China is serious business. Every teacher receives a multitude of gifts. I received a crazy pen, a few journals, some awesome cards, a wooden key chain, a fake flower, and a feminine clover leaf necklace. What made it so much fun was not expecting all of these things.

My other full time job is always slowly gaining speed. Teaching from the Word is incredible. So far I have experience one study and taught one CSI class. Micah and I co-teach catechism. This is incredible. Our students are on fire for the Word. The fellowship warms your heart and makes you excited to be a Christian. The passion that my brothers and sister have is phenomenal many of them spend at least 3 hours at various studies throughout the week. Next week I think that I will be attending at least 5 studies and teaching 3.

I spend a lot of my other time trying to place myself in uncomfortable situations. I think that this has been an effective way to fledge into Chine culture. I have a few good stories from the last few weeks involving this third pastime. They include trips to the Great Wall, Wal-Mart, the Bird's Nest, the Watercube, the Beijing Zoo, and the basketball courts.

This is the reason that the background image for my blog is a basketball court. I've played basketball at least five times and these experience are just awesome. Basketball has been my primary means for meeting people. My experiences have shown me that sport is the international bond between males.

Ms. Ella Bella, I miss playing with you. Make sure that Dolly doesn't get out of hand and if she does you should probably put her time-out.

I pray that all of you are experiencing the riches of God's grace, and that God continues to challenge all of you in order that you place all of your trust in him.

Matthew James Werner

Bingo, Monks, and Internships

Happy New Year, 2010 is off to a bang. The holiday season has flown by and God provided many blessings. I was able to see my grandfather outside of the nursing home for the first time in a year. My parents and I were able to spend lots of quality time together. I was able to catch up with a lot of friends. The last two days of my break included going to the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, and meeting Evan's muncle (monk uncle), Father Anthony.
This holiday season was a transitional period for me. I am no longer a student in a classroom but I've moved on to a student in the real world. Yesterday I began my semester long internship at St. Paul Fort Atkinson. I'm living with my friend Sy, which is an incredible blessing. Jason Schleef will also be joining us in a few short days. Living with Sy has eliminated the awkwardness of living with a host family.
Yesterday I made shut-in visits in the morning, which was a lot of fun. I went along with Pastor Duncan and observed as he gave a devotion and Holy Communion. We visited three members, the visits felt more like visiting a friend then a Bible Study. A lot of time was spent simply talking and getting a feel for how the members were doing. I had a great time interjecting at times, but mostly just sitting back and listening to the stories of three incredible people.
Pastor Duncan then took me to the other WELS church in Fort Atkinson, Bethany. Who knew that Bethany was in Fort Atkinson? I always pictured Bethany as being out in the country somewhere near Fort but nope it's right in the middle of Fort Atkinson.
This Sunday I'm doing the readings in church, which proved to be exciting because I got to meet the A/V guy. I've never met a man who was so passionate about being the A/V guy. He was a brilliant man who took a lot of time to take me through sanctuary and explain some of the history of the congregation. He also fitted me for a mic.
In the evening I began working at the Teen Center. I was there for 7 hours. It was a blast I played a lot of pool and Egyptian Rat Slap. In fact I would venture to say that I played more pool in those 7 hours then I've played in my entire life. Maybe by the end of this I'll become a pool shark. Sy did a Bible Study on the Wise Man.
I guess this is a small preview of what I did on my first day. I hope to keep up to date with whats going on with my internship. This blog post was probably kind of lame but I was trying to cover a lot of things. Expect better stories and more focus in future posts. After the first day I was pretty exhausted. Now I'm off to try to find Subway in Fort Atkinson.

Number 22

Today is my 22nd birthday and my return to the world of blogging. Today was marked by maliciously skipping Doctrine II, receiving a box of warm clothes from my wonderful parents, having a splendid gab while watching the MLC men's basketball team and throwing back a shot of tequila over dinner with friends. Probably the most memorable thing about this day was the source of my meal. Emily Sell purchased my meal. This is absolutely mind boggling! Ms. Sell never wanted to kill me nor have we ever been romanticly involved. However, we did go to kindergarten together, and all of elementary school, and all of middle school. We were in a relatively small class( 30 kids) so I would say we were more then acquatences but definetly not good friends. Then WAMBAM grade school was over and we went our separate ways. Emily went to Luther Preparatory School to become groomed in the ways of public ministry, and I went to Lakeside High School in order to avoid going to a prep school. During high school Emily and I were involved in youth group at our church but never really talked. Basically, frienship terminated.

College rolled around and Emily and I ended up at the same place, Martin Luther College. Some people might think that this would mean that Emily and I became best friends over night. You have to understand MLC is kind of like freshman year of high school all over again. Everyone clings to the their high school pals. Randomly one day Emily walked over to my dorm room with one of her friends and said, "Hey you wanna go on a mission trip?" I of course was up for spending a week in sunny Phoenix, Arizona while the Midwest was covered in snow. Soon after that trip Emily became a staff ministry major. I am also a staff ministry major. Emily and I together make up 14% of the staff ministry students at MLC. Needless to say Emily and I have become friends over the last 4 years and it always strikes me as ironic that our relationship even exists.