The Hinken's Ministry Team

01/20/2026

Here are some more pictures from the recent ice storm…

01/15/2026

Hello All,
God is teaching us to surrender to His will in 2026. The ice storm that happened on December 28th here in Mecosta county really caused significant damage to the property camp, but God is good and we are still able to run all youth, retreats and guest groups as normal. Pray for staff and volunteers as we get the property ship shape again.

06/02/2025

Hey Team!

Quick update as May is GONE! It went by so fast and we are so grateful for God's provision. We have had a strange season for staff hires as we have hired, had people withdraw, and then need to rehire. Jordan started T-ball again and loves it! It blows us away how much he has grown and looks like a real ball player. Eden tried out soccer for the first time and both kids loved to help get camp ready for guests. Bethany turned 9 months old and is so close to crawling! Just needs to put all the movements together. The kids have grown to love reading, fishing, and exploring.

The first day of all staff training was today! We are excited to see this group mesh and grow over the next few months.

As we press into Summer mode we would love your prayers in a few areas.

1) Praise that God has answered some huge staffing prayers, In crazy ways. Prayer however for 1 to 2 more Guy Cabin Leaders. We need them to run some weeks of camp and haven't found them....yet.

2) Prayers for family balance as we reset our schedules and routines around summer ministry.

3) Prayers for peace and stamina for the grinding season ahead and for eyes to look for God's provision and trust Him for everything we need.

We love you all and are grateful for your prayers and support that allows us to do this job as a family.

For the Glory of the Son,

The Hinken's

04/30/2025

This is the post we would love to have you all share!

Not sure what we are talking about? Check out our story or most recent post!

🦸‍♂️ Summoning the next cabin hero!
We still have room for a couple more male leaders for summer 2025. Consider this your sign to fill out the app TODAY and be a part of transforming lives FOREVER: https://www.cranhillranch.com/apply

04/30/2025

Hey Team!

We hope you are doing well and that the burst of Spring warmth is getting you excited for Summer! We are in the thick of getting ready for another Summer Camp season and we would love your help.

We are still looking for a few key positions for our staff this summer. We still need
+ Health Officer
+ Male Cabin Leader (2)
+ Program Coordinator (leadership role and great for internship fulfillment)
+ Head Male and Female Cabin Leaders
+ Worship Leader or at minimum a tech person to manage the daily chapel sessions.

We are praising God that we are nearly fully staffed outside of these positions and a few others. As we are getting to May however we are nervous as the positions we listed are BIG needs. We know God is good and trust He will provide what we need (even if it's not what we want). We wanted to put the word out and ask you to help us. Here is how we would love your help.

1) First and foremost, join us in PRAYING for these needs to be filled.

2) TALK with people you know that could possibly fill one of this positions. Applicants need to be at least 18. Camp is an amazing life changing experience that we would highly recommend. Our live were changed at camp (and still is being changed) and it is worth doing. You know people we will never have opportunities to talk with and we need your help. Even if they can't do a full summer we are open to that.

3) SHARE the post we will share to our feed directly from CranHill on your social media platforms to help get the word out

We are grateful for each of you and know God is working through all of this. No matter the Highs and lows God is good and we look forward to watching Him work through His people and the lives that will be changed this summer.

Thank you for being apart of that process. We will give updates as we go.

Thanks Team!

03/10/2025

We did it! We have made it through our winter retreat season and Nate just returned from the annual Michigan Camp conference where he helped serve as emcee alongside our friend Kat from Bair Lake Bible Camp. It has been a busy season but rewarding. God moved in many students' hearts this year and has been stirring us as well as we continue to walk after Jesus.

We saw over 100 more people attend our winter retreats and many new groups to us which we are praising God for. We also are (hopefully) out of the season of sickness. Sickness has been an almost constant in our home since Halloween so we are ready to let it go and get outside more. If there was an Oscar for the most sicknesses caught in one season we would be in the running for sure!

Trhougj it all we are praising God for His generosity and goodness to us through sickness, finances, provision, friendships, and more. He is GOOD and we are grateful to see it often. Now, we are looking ahead to summer which will be here sooner than we know. We also are looking forward to seeing what God will do in our family and through it in this season.

We would love to have you join us in prayer for a few things.

1) Praising God for His mighty work this winter. That He would guide and direct the students who chose to follow Jesus.

2) Pray for health to remain in our house and we would get to enjoy family time as the weather gets warmer and we have fewer things showing on pre-summer. We actually get to take a few mini trips (first one this week for Edens potty training graduation, yay!) Which we are looking forward to.

3) Pray for our preparation for Summer and finding people for the last few open staff positions. Especially for a few leadership staff for Nates team. We would love to find a male and female older college students who can help with leadership of tje summer staff.

4) Pray for God's continual guidance and leading and the development of a greater faith for us in Him as we keep serving and following Jesus.

Thank you all for your encouragement and support. We are so very blessed by each of you.

Blessings from the Hinken's!

02/15/2025

Hey Team!

We are kicking off our final Elevate Winter Retreat this weekend. It's been a great season and we are so blessed to have seen God speak to so many teens this year. We are kicking off the opening session with our good friends from The Branch Music and Off The Wall Discipleship. Would you be in prayer for this weekend? Pray for the hearts of students as they hear God's Word and for our family as we wrap up this season.

Love you All!

The Hinken's

01/24/2025

Hey Team,

Quick Update for y'all as we have been busy with winter retreats and life. We are just over half way through winter retreat season that started with our College & Young Adult Retreat just after New Year's and Tonight we start our 4th of 6 weekends. It has been a crazy busy season but we have seen God call many students to Himeself. It is always a humbling thing to watch do what God does and that He allows our family to be a small piece of that work.

Thanks to Genelle who holds down our house on these weekends 💪 and to all of you who pray for us regularly.

As we get ready for tonight would you join us in prayer?

1) Pray for energy and strength through these weekends. We aren't as young as we once were 😂

2) Pray for Genelle as she takes care of the kids and for our kids as they hang out and for them to listen well.

3) Pray for God's continued work in the students that come to Elevate (our winter retreats). That they would be challenged by God's Word and choose to follow Jesus.

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement as we push to the end of our winter season.

Let's Go!

12/25/2024

From our Family to yours, Merry Christmas!!

We pray that you find the joy, peace, and comfort this Christmas that only Jesus can provide. Whether your year was full of difficult things or was a year of blessings, Jesus came to give us peace and set us free.

A friend texted early this week that Jesus' birth wasn't just a peaceful night in Bethlehem. It was the start of a cosmic rescue mission brought to fulfillment after centuries of work and planning. Jesus came to win a war. Not a physical war, but a war over sin and death and He was king and conqueror even as that sweet infant in the manager. God had a plan all along and we can have peace knowing that no matter what we struggle with, who sits in seats of power, or how we are feeling Jesus is Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and worthy of it all.

Thank you for supporting us, praying for us, and encouraging us as we do what we do because of Jesus.

May your Christmas be filled with Jesus and may you have peace.

Love,

The Hinken's

11/28/2024

Hey Team!

Thank you! Thank you to each of you for all the ways you have prayed for and supported our family. As Paul says in Philippines that whether we are in wealth or poor, full stomachs or empty we are content. We are so thankful for each of you and we hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

11/22/2024

Hey Team!

We have reached the end of another Fall Retreat season. It is always a time full of excitement and transition to a new rhythm after summer camp ends. Now that it is over it is another transition to much more family time. Which as the years have gone on we look forward to more and more.

This Fall we have so much to be thankful for as we approach Thanksgiving. We've placed some highlights below.
+ Increased registrations across all Fall programs
+ We had a Baby! 😀
+ Genelle transitioned to full time mom, quite literally the hardest full time job there is for anyone, let alone 3 under 5.
+ Jordan started school (what!)
+ We are completing plans for a packed out winter season
+ Just returned from our full time staff retreat

We are celebrating God's goodness to us after a difficult summer and full Fall. He has continued to show us that He is our provider, supplier, and guide in this season of life for us and we are so thankful to serve a God who never gives up on us and continues to see fit to use us. We are also so grateful to YOU, our team of supporters for how you equip us to do this job.

As we enter this time of rest and preparation for what's next would you join us in prayer?
+ Pray for us as parents for wisdom to disciple and show our kids Jesus.
+ Pray for the time we get to spend at home together and to enjoy this time well.
+ Pray for God's continued provision for us as we continue to adjust to a different budget, different schedule of Genelle being home more, and our growing kids. Pray that God continues to supply all that we need as He always has.
+ Praise for an amazing Fall season and for the great winter season to come.
+ Pray for snow and lots of it (that one's from Jordan =])

Thank you all for making what we do possible and we look forward to sharing with you more from our next season!

In His Grip,
THE HINKEN'S
(Nate, Genelle, Jordan, Eden, & Bethany)