Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities

EP# 162: Finding Fulfillment Through Faith: Michael Batenburg's Transition to Back 2 Basics Outdoor Ministries

• Skip Mauney & Michael Batenburg • Episode 162

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What makes Michael Batenburg with Back2Basics Outdoor Ministries a good neighbor?

Chaplain Michael Batenburg's journey from a high-flying technology career to founding Back 2 Basics Outdoor Ministries is a compelling tale of transformation and purpose. At the age of 45, Michael found himself surrounded by material success but plagued by a profound sense of emptiness. His realization that true fulfillment lies in fostering deep connections and serving a higher purpose led him to reinvest his talents into a faith-driven mission. On today's episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast of the Tri-Cities, Michael shares his inspiring story and introduces us to the unique experiences his ministry offers—spaces for solitude, silence, scripture, and Sabbath that cater to intimate and personalized group gatherings.

Listeners will gain insights into how Back 2 Basics Outdoor Ministries facilitates retreats and events designed to unplug from the chaos of daily life and reconnect with faith and community. Michael emphasizes the importance of small, intimate groups to foster authenticity and meaningful conversations, drawing inspiration from the simplicity and depth of Jesus's teachings. From personalized lodging to curated activities, everything is tailored to ensure guests can focus on their spiritual and communal objectives without distraction. This episode promises a heartfelt exploration of what it means to find joy and significance in serving others and embracing one's true calling.

To learn more about Back2Basics Outdoor Ministries go to:

https://back2basicsadventures.org/

Back2Basics Outdoor Ministries

(423) 373-2111



Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.

Speaker 2:

Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast of the Tri-Cities. So I am really excited today because we have a very special guest with us who is doing some wonderful things in the community and helping others. And I'm sure you'll be just as excited because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, chaplain Michael Battenberg, who is the founder of Back to Basics Outdoor Ministries. Chaplain Michael, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3:

Chaplain, michael, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you, good afternoon and I appreciate this opportunity to be a part of this wonderful community podcast. Well, we appreciate you being here and taking time out of your busy schedule, which I'm sure we'll hear more about, and we appreciate everything you're doing in the community. So, if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us exactly what is Back to Basics Outdoor Ministries do?

Speaker 3:

Sure. So, in a nutshell, we provide space. We provide space for people to come and to celebrate, to have retreats, weddings, events, to become closer to one another and closer to Jesus Christ. We are very fixated on people unplugging and getting back to basics. That's why we named the organization as such, and we hope that people have an opportunity to experience what we call the four S's solitude, silence, scripture and Sabbath.

Speaker 3:

And we try to inspire individuals by creating custom private experiences for friends, family and to have a completely inclusive, hands-on experience where we take care of everything from lodging to food, to activities, to programming, if need be, to make sure that that valuable time that a guest has decided to commit to getting away gets maximized and that their objective gets fulfilled.

Speaker 3:

And so we want individuals to not have to worry about anything other than achieving the objective that they intended to achieve, whether that is, like I said, a celebration or a retreat or relaxation, or maybe some hunting, or whatever that may be. Each guest group that we host is private and custom and is curated specifically for that group that is typically of a smaller size. We really believe in intimacy and authenticity and transparency, and we believe that happens better with smaller groups. Jesus picked 12 for a reason, and so we try to encourage smaller groups, but we can accommodate up to about 30 in beds between our lodge and cabins and so forth. Unfortunately, two of our lodging resources were taken by the river, which has reduced our ability to handle larger groups, but again, I think that was maybe God's way of reemphasizing the fact that we should be focusing on the smaller, smaller groups.

Speaker 2:

Small groups. Yeah, well, hey, he works in mysterious ways. So you said the four S's silence, solitude, scripture, and what was the fourth Sabbath, Sabbath Sabbath, love it. What was the fourth Sabbath, sabbath, sabbath, love it. I love that. Very good, very good. Well, chaplain, how did you, how did you get into this business?

Speaker 3:

So for the majority of my life I was in secular business, I was in technology and, you know, believed that the greatest things in life were things and it was all about position and possession. And at 45, I realized that I had made a grave mistake. And you know, the house on the water with the cars and the boats and all the toys and things, with nobody to share my life with because of my selfish desires, was really something that was impacting me very negatively and I went into a pretty serious depression that had suicidal tendencies and I really was questioning my value. And fortunately, as the word says, ask, seek and knock with an open heart and the door will be opened. And I, literally at 45, had a Jonah epiphany and made a 180 transformation and left a very lucrative secular career and turned to ministry and heard from the Holy Spirit that I did have the ability for significance. I was just using my gifts and talents and blessings for the wrong things and that if I could listen and be inspired by Him, that I could use those to do what I was created to do, which is serving God and serving others.

Speaker 3:

And so Back to Basics was born in Florida and we were hosting individuals doing what we do. But we were doing it all over the world, running people around to different locations depending on what their dream or their vision was, whether it was elk hunting or base camping, mount Everest or paddling the local waters or fishing or surfing down in Costa Rica, going to the Holy Land. And then God brought me a son. So at 59, I now have a five-year-old and we knew, yeah, god has a sense of humor, right, you want to make God laugh? Tell him, you have a plan. And so, with my wife becoming pregnant, we decided that we wouldn't be able to continue doing ministry as we were doing for a place where we could live and also do ministry. That had a large variety of outdoor experiences and was led to Jonesboro, tennessee three years ago when we started developing the property. That's kind of how it all started.

Speaker 2:

Wow, wow. Well, I've had a similar experience, although I'm 57 and my youngest is 22.

Speaker 3:

But I understand.

Speaker 2:

God works in mysterious ways, as we said earlier.

Speaker 3:

He showed me he needed me to learn patience.

Speaker 2:

I'm five years old to do it.

Speaker 3:

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I'm old to do it.

Speaker 2:

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I'm sorry to interrupt you. Oh no, that's okay, that's okay. So in the, in the, the retreat business, especially your Christ-based retreat business, what are some myths or misconceptions in that industry? Are there any?

Speaker 3:

Well, yeah, I mean, for us specifically, the biggest misconception is that you know we're a kids camp and we are absolutely not. Not that kids aren't welcome, they are but we're not like a Doe River where you come and drop your kids off. You know we want you to. If you want to, you know, grow together with yourself and others in Jesus Christ and do it with your kids, you should be there and do that, and so we welcome kids, but not as a drop-off kids camp. So that's probably the biggest initial misconception. The second is that you know you have to be an outdoorsman. You know you really don't.

Speaker 3:

God provided us with all the gifts of nature and by things that they're not super comfortable or familiar with, and so so they may be hesitant to to think about outdoor ministry and and being something that they can enjoy, you know. The other is that it's uncomfortable. A lot of people think first thing they think of is sleeping on the ground. Well, you know you certainly can do that. We have quite a bit of camping opportunities, but we also have, you know, four or five star experiences with, you know, comfortable beds and hot showers, and you know, facilities that would meet and hopefully exceed expectations of the most discerning female, which is kind of how we built our ministry. My wife said build this so that a woman would feel safe, comfortable, cozy and have the ability to relax. And so, taking that into consideration, we feel that we've met that objective and why our guests do have the opportunity, in a very short period of time, which is typically, you know, three or four nights, have the opportunity to be inspired and be refreshed and renewed and revived and leave changed.

Speaker 2:

Sounds incredible actually.

Speaker 3:

Thank you Outside of work, michael, what do you do for fun? Well, you know, typically when you live now at the ministry and you do ministry, it's tough to get away. You know the most and I kind of changed that rather than the most fun. When I was inspired by the Holy Spirit to do this, I clearly heard the Holy Spirit ask me where do you find the most joy? And that's kind of why we chose the outdoors, because I felt the most peace and the most joy and the most connected and the most transparent in God's creation and where I still find the most joy is there and doing that, but also hearing and seeing the impact that's made from our guests that ultimately become our friends as a part of their spiritual walk and hope that they choose to come back on a regular basis.

Speaker 3:

And I guess that's the blessing of how our organization evolves is that you know you don't always have to come back to Jonesboro. Although we love you too, we do have access to facilities all over the world. That would give a different experience if that's something that you're looking for. So you know, if I'm not doing those things, I like to spend time, obviously, with my family, traveling, relaxing. I love to scuba dive and I love music and really trying to align myself in God's creation. I love to hunt and fish and all the things that we provide for our guests I like to do, and do it as a guest and not necessarily as a host.

Speaker 2:

Oh hey, nothing wrong with that. I'm a fisherman myself. Actually, I'm a fly fisherman. Love to catch trout.

Speaker 3:

Yes, Well, you're in a good place to do that with the Holston and Watauga.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, and there's tons of little streams all over the place that are just wonderful too.

Speaker 1:

Horse.

Speaker 2:

Creek is a great one.

Speaker 1:

Yes yes.

Speaker 2:

So, chaplain, let's change gears for just a second. Can you describe a hardship, or certainly a challenge that was not anticipated?

Speaker 3:

And the community support and just coming around us, uplifting us, praying for us and with us has certainly been a blessing.

Speaker 3:

The fact that I'm on this podcast is a direct result of one of our friends that encouraged hey, people need to hear your story and this is a way to do it.

Speaker 3:

So that, in conjunction with the fact that, as I mentioned before, I was just in the midst of losing the house, diagnosed with stage four cancer and obviously I haven't overcome that yet, but I do have a strong belief that God's will will prevail and he has a plan for me, that God's will will prevail and he has a plan for me and and and hopefully it's it's to to to share a good story and to to encourage others that are dealing with with medical challenges to to know that that we have a purpose and and and in spite of adversity, you know we will prevail and we will be able to find the good and the blessings in the trials and tribulations. You know I always fall back to. You know the trials and tribulations that Paul and Joseph and Job experienced Right, and I got nothing on those guys and they all did amazing things in spite of their challenges.

Speaker 3:

So I hope to have just a small potential impact similar to what they were able to have on society in my little piece of of of of giving back while while I'm here.

Speaker 2:

Well, it sounds like you're well on your way to to to accomplishing that. So congratulations and thank you for what you do too. Bless you, thank you, just despite all the challenges, good Lord. Well, chaplain, if you could think of one thing you would like our listeners to remember about the Back to Basics Outdoor Ministries, what would that be?

Speaker 3:

family, your church, your business, your community. We're a resource that we would love for you to come and see if we can help to help strengthen your relationship with one another and with Jesus Christ, and especially for the first responders and emergency responders that we've had been blessed to to serve with our, our free retreats that we do through our partnership with enter the lion. If you know anybody that is out there and and and suffering from either being overworked or burned out, or you know needing some relaxation or renewal, revival, revival to let us know so that we can get you on the list to be a guest and to come out and to experience the gift and blessings that we've been blessed with and having these facilities and resources to offer to the community, both local and abroad.

Speaker 2:

Very good, very good thing to remember. Well, and for those of our listeners that are interested and want to learn more about how they can support you and or use your facilities, how can they learn more? What's the best way for them to learn more?

Speaker 3:

So the number of ways so you can go to our website, b-a-c-k, the number two, basicsadventuresorg, or call us. We'd love to meet you and to speak with you and to show you what we have. You know, 2 Corinthians 9 says that whether it's our time, our talents or our treasures, they're all considered the same, and if you have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to want to be involved in what we do by offering your time, talents and treasures, we have a place for you and we would love to discuss with you how you would like to participate at being part of our organization, whether it's a financial supporter of the ministry or of our scholarship programs for our first responders, or whether it's being a guest or just as easy as sharing information about who we are and what we do for someone that is in need. We would greatly appreciate any and all of those gifts for us and for you to be a part of what God has blessed us with in serving the community.

Speaker 2:

Awesome, awesome. Well, chaplain, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. You're dealing with a lot right now, so I really do appreciate it. You taking time out to be on the show and I promise you we will spread the word. Taking time out to be on the show and I promise you we will spread the word, and I'm asking our listeners as well to help spread the word about what you're doing, and we'll do our best to help you as much as we can and support you.

Speaker 3:

Thank you and our number, our local number, 423-373-2111. Call anytime. We're here to serve and we would love to hear from you.

Speaker 2:

Awesome Four, two, three, three, seven, three, two, one, one, one, that's it All right, very good. Well again, chaplain, thank you so much. And moving forward, we wish you and your family and your, your, your missionary, your mission, all the best. Moving forward, bless you. Thank you, skip, thanks so much, and maybe we can get you back on the show one day soon to talk about all the things you've accomplished and got done Anytime, maybe we'll do the next one on location. That sounds great, that sounds wonderful, very good.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, so much Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Well, thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, Go to GNP try dash citiescom. That's GNP Try dash citiescom. Or call 423-719-5873.