Greetings from Battlefield Founders Nathan and Jane Phillips
We bring good tidings, with great joy!
It is with thankful hearts that we are ending this year of 2021. We are thankful for you, for our family, for loved ones who remain with us and for those whom we have lost.
Due to the pandemic, this Christmas will be the “first Christmas for…” an empty chair around the dinner table or empty stocking in the living room among many other “holes” in family traditions. Specifically, here at Battlefield, we are thinking about our Chuck Nida who unexpectedly went to be with the Lord this year. He was a great man, a good friend, and a big part of Battlefield. We remain thankful for the way God, for years, used him and his wife, Yvonne, to help make provision for us to have a comfortable office space in Cartersville, Georgia.
As for you, thank you for continuing to support us financially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. When we think about you, these are the areas you fall into as we regularly mention the ways God blesses us through you.
For instance, some of you house us when we are on the road en route to or from or between. Others of you extend the warmth of hospitality around your kitchen counter, whether in Rome, the United States, or the uttermost parts of the world. Still others of you have made financial provision for personal needs of which you knew.
As we regularly clock in at the gates of Hell in the Valley of the Shadow of Death with those from whom we sit across, we are truly thankful for you who faithfully make provision for us. The ways we feel supported are varied and many and all serve to offer sustenance and encouragement.
Many of you are called to prayer on our behalf. This has inestimable value for us. We feel sure your intercession as prompted by the Lord is part of the moments of breakthrough we experience when sitting across from hurting comrades.
In trying to put words on our thankful hearts, which takes us in many directions and has numerous facets, we are reminded that Battlefield exists to make provision for the Body of Christ to thrive for His name and His renown.
And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:19-21(KJV)
Nathan & Jane
Battlefield Ministries saved our marriage before it even began.
Counseling Office Report
Battlefield’s staff has grown over the years from 2 to 22. This includes our executive team, counselors, supervisors, various office staff and interns. In 2021, Morgan Green left our team to join the staff at Berry College’s counseling department. Hannah Blanton joined us in June and is filling a much-needed role for clients of grief and trauma. Carol Apple began seeing children, young people and parents in November. We are thankful for the diversification of calling among our staff which serves to meet the needs of those seeking counseling.
As renovations are completed on the new office space across the courtyard in our Rome location, we are beginning to see clients in the new space. As part of God’s financial provision, we were blessed with a donation of carpet, the affordability of the increased space, and contributions given specific to fund the renovation. In addition, our long-term friends at Advantage Office Solutions helped provide the furniture we needed… again, as they have since we began in 1996. This new space provides three additional counseling areas.
Our Ministry is Meeting a Financial Need
We never want money to be the reason someone does not receive help. With offices in Rome and Cartersville our team of counselors meets a need for local counseling and does so at discounted rates based on income.
Did You Know?
As a result of offering this sliding fee scale for counseling, Battlefield Ministries gave away counseling services worth over $300,000 this year. This creates a gap between what clients pay on our sliding scale and the current market rate for counseling. This affects 91% of our clients who are unable to pay the full amount for counseling. Our hope is, that through donor support, we can fully fill the gap to fund the ministry. We remain thankful for those who have faithfully contributed to bridging this gap.
That is absolutely amazing – a lot of pouring into others and pouring out Jesus. So proud of the work you guys do and appreciative of you guys personally.
Battlefield’s International Program
Battlefield has a heart to care for the Church and all those who are ministering, including missionaries. Our counselors have been able to continue to minister to missionaries remotely throughout the pandemic. In August, Battlefield sent a team to minister to missionaries in the Middle East.
Our hope to return to our International Marriage Retreats, where we facilitate the Five Components of Change to missionaries, will be realized in March of 2022 when we take a team to Eastern Europe. We have been invited to lead retreats and breakout sessions for a mission organization’s annual general conference that was postponed for three years due to the pandemic.
Trips to Enrich
distinctly Christian
intentionally Relational
decidedly Adventurous
(Brian & Jodi Tuten are in the brown and yellow.)
Battlefield provides Trips to Enrich that nourish the Body of Christ. These trips can be single-day events or multi-day excursions, all with a heart for making provision for the Body of Christ to thrive by focusing on our walk with the Lord and taking advantage of getting to Meaningful Moments in the midst of adventure. In 2021 Battlefield Ministries had two more Reel to Real Trips to Enrich, which are fly-fishing events modeled after You Are That Man and spearheaded by Bruce Olmstead, a YATM “King’s Man” (alum of a YATM trip). Nathan and Brian Tuten also led a Fall You Are That Man trip, and then, along with their wives, led our first Couples Canyoneering Adventure. Canyoneering is a highly adventurous activity that involves wet suits and rappelling gear! (Way to go, Jane!)
<- Watch a video from our latest trip.
Join Us in Asking God to Provide for 2022
There will always be those who need financial assistance as they seek restorative counseling. Battlefield Ministries is committed to providing this. Now, in anticipation of 2022, we ask that you join us in praying about what God has for us in the coming year. Part of our prayer is for you to get caught up in the magnificent orchestration of God’s handiwork at Battlefield.
Battlefield Ministries reports for duty at the gates of Hell. Supporting Battlefield Ministries allows us to be on the frontlines with them, advancing through those gates, with the assignment from the Lord to set the captives free.
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