In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20), Jesus gives his disciples the task of telling all the people of the earth the message of salvation, baptising them and making them disciples of Jesus. In short, each of the disciples and followers of Jesus is also part of the mission to enlarge the Kingdom of God. That means wherever we are and what we do, we are in the process of advancing God’s kingdom, whether in the USA, Germany or elsewhere in the world. Let us be part of your mission! Because your mission is an important part in the kingdom of God to fulfil the last mission Jesus gave. Amy and I see us as the hands and feet for many in the USA and in Germany to fulfil this command in New Zealand. And it is our plan to do this for the next several years, but more on that later. 

Like many missionaries, we depend on donations. Do you want us to be part of your mission? To be your hands and feet in God’s mission? Then support us monthly. We ask you to think and pray about joining us in a monthly partnership; with just $50.00 USD a month you can make a tremendous impact. You can find more information about what we need support for and how you can give at http://asmission.com/en/how-to-support-us/. Or contact us via email or phone (see contact details at the bottom of this page.  

Help us come home – For a few weeks now we have been excited about the news that New Zealand will open its borders in 2022. We want to travel to the US and Germany to meet each other’s families and friends. We also plan to apply for a new visa in New Zealand which allows us to stay in New Zealand for another 5 years and afterward indefinitely (this visa is a once in a lifetime opportunity that is only being offered due to COVID).

That is why we want to raise $12,000NZD (approx. $8,200USD) by March 1st to cover flights (to America, Germany and back to New Zealand for both of us) and the new visa with a new passport for Amy Bauer (with a new name!). We need your help for that! Can you help us achieve this goal? Help us get home. To find out more, please send us a text or email.

Wedding – 2021 started off with the biggest adventure of our lives. We got MARRIED! 

I (Amy) never foresaw myself marrying someone from overseas, someone my family had never met, and still has not met face to face. I never planned to marry someone who speaks English as a second language and to have to challenge myself to learn the language of my husband. My life has not gone the way I would have planned it; and I am so happy about that! This past year has had some really tough months and moments of deep sorrow as I longed to be with my family, longed for a home of my own, and longed to love my husband better. 

God in His perfect wisdom brought Silas and I together and my husband is everything that I need. He has left me undone time again by his selfless love and abundant encouragement. He has challenged me to be more than I thought I could be and to see that there are no limits to a limitless God. My life is far sweeter because of this beautiful man that seeks the Lord and loves me and our ministry with his whole heart. We will be learning and growing for the rest of our lives, but there is no one else I would rather do it with!

DBT 25 students – After returning from our honeymoon we pioneered a Discipleship Bible Training course (DBT) from February-April. We had 25 students ranging in age from 15-75 years old. This was Marine Reaches first ever program run by our staff through a local church. Marine Reach is a global ministry and we spend most of our time training international missionaries and sending them out to other nations. Due to COVID we have had the chance to make a bigger impact on our community. We have been amazed to see how God has been moving in the local church. I recently caught up with one of the students from our DBT. Leah (age 17), shared with me that she had been praying for an opportunity to learn more about the Bible so when we ran our course it was an answer to her prayers. Leah was so excited about her relationship with the Lord and has felt on fire for the Word since her time with us earlier in the year. 

Website – In May Silas used his awesome IT skills to build our very own website! This was a dream for Silas as he desired for there to be an easier way for friends and family to follow our journey. The website has been a big hit and I am so thankful for my husband’s computer skills! We will continue to add more information to our website and hopefully integrate some helpful videos.

Wellington – We also headed on our first outreach as a married couple to Wellington (the capital city of NZ). We worshipped, prayed, evangelised and connected with our fellow YWAMers from around the country. During our stay we partnered with the YWAM Koha ship to help them get the word out about the medical missions opportunities they have through using their beautiful vessel in the south pacific.

DBS 4 Students / DTS 16 Students – From June to Oct we were filled with joy to have 4 Discipleship Bible school students (DBS) and 16 Discipleship training school students (DTS). I think this particular group of people were hand-picked by the Lord to be with us at this time. Each one of them brought something unique and beautiful to the ministry. Prior to the students arrival in July we had not had any new people living at the base for several months. This precious group of people touched our lives. I loved getting to join them on their journeys of discovering more about Jesus and watching each of them come to life as God healed, restored, and spoke future plans to each one of them. And leading the DBS for the 2nd time was a lot easier than it was the first time. Thank you Lord!

IT / Registrar – From November-December Silas worked in IT as the ministry was in great need of computer updates and… To be honest I don’t really know what an IT person does, but I know my computer probably wouldn’t work without Silas. 
While Silas was getting the bugs out of our electronics I was working in registrar particularly in student recruitment. I found it very refreshing to spend some time in an office again (I worked in an office as a receptionist for 5 years). I love making lists and checking things off so my type A personality was thriving. While doing paperwork and responding to emails I also had the privilege to call prospective students; learning about their lives and sharing testimonies with them. It was such a joy to meet new people and be able to pray with them. In fact I loved being a registrar so much that I plan to keep an afternoon a week in the office for 2022. 

Staff Training – When we weren’t in the office we were studying and growing our leadership skills. God had been speaking to us about developing more staff training for a few months and it turns out he was also speaking to the leadership team in the ministry. Silas and I were thrilled to be able to join a team of people composed of training staff, the ministry director, and pastoral care persons to develop new staff training material. We look forward to jumping into a new training schedule in the New Year. It is our deep desire to equip young missionaries to thrive in the ministry God has for them and to use their gifts and talents in a way that spreads joy and brings glory to God. 

DBS – We are currently preparing for the next DBS. In February we will start our school again and we already have 6 students who are fully registered. It is gratifying to see that most of the new students are from the last DTS. And yet we still have space for more students so we continue to pray for others to join us.

New Visa – As already mentioned, we want to apply for a Residency visa in New Zealand. At the beginning of July we started to pray and listen to where God is calling us in the future. And again and again we came to the topic of visas, as it was rather difficult to find a suitable visa that would allow us to travel home for a while. We asked God to show us a clear path and he gave us prophetic words for the future in New Zealand. In September, the New Zealand government decided to issue a new visa, which is specifically intended for those who lived in New Zealand through the pandemic and despite many requirements, we are qualified for it. That was God’s answer to our prayer, a clear path. We can apply for the new visa on March 1st, 2022. Amy and I agree that we will apply for the new visa and thus commit ourselves to the mission in New Zealand for another 5 years.