How the Spring Creek Ministries Brynn Burk Story Started

For as long as Hamil Bros Studios has been in business, we’ve been committed to supporting causes that matter. Whether through video storytelling or hands-on involvement, we’re dedicated to helping nonprofits make a greater impact. One of the organizations close to our hearts is Spring Creek Ministries (SCM), a faith-based nonprofit offering crisis support to individuals and families. And this year, our partnership with SCM brought us into contact with the inspiring Burk family and their journey through an unexpected medical crisis.

This resulted in the powerful Spring Creek Ministries Brynn Burk Giving Tuesday video.

After wrapping up a recent project with Champion Xpress, Ross and Jacob set out to upgrade their vehicles, our trailer was filling up and with that came extra weight. So, we needed to find vehicles that would be up to the task and leave some room for growth.

What seemed like an ordinary task that ended up going in a direction that none of us could see coming and could only be attributed to divine intervention. 

In the spring of 2024, during Ross’s search, he met John and Tiffany Burk. They were selling an SUV that was right in the price range Ross was looking for and had all the power he needed (plus a few other amenities). 

Ross met with John and took the car for a test drive. It was exactly what he was looking for. It was a little rough around the edges, but that has never bothered Ross (he drove a minivan until the wheels nearly fell off).

Cash in hand and ready to make the deal, John called his wife, Tiffany, to bring the title. This presented some time to kill as well as conversation to be had.

John apologized for the vehicle not being detailed and show ready. This lead into John sharing a story.

John and his wife Tiffany had adopted a little girl, Brynn. In the recent past, they had noticed she wasn’t growing at the expected rate, but that wasn’t too terribly surprising given that her birth mother was also petite. 

Then Tiffany noticed something. Brynn was drinking an unusually high amount of water. She would drink and wasn’t hydrating.

After a lot of back and forth with doctors, a friend of Tiffany’s pointed out that those symptoms sounded a lot like diabetes insipidus. She wasn’t retaining any of the water she was drinking. After meeting with an endocrinologist, this wasn’t formally diagnosed, but he put Brynn on a medication that would treat the water retention with the assertion that, if it works, then we know that’s the problem.

Within a short amount of time after starting the medication, things changed for Brynn. They finally had some answers.

Along with a myriad of other medical complications, Brynn was undergoing treatment, which meant a lot of travel around Texas for the Burks. This was why they were offloading this vehicle. It wasn’t a car they needed and it was going to help pay for some of the direct and indirect medical expenses they were facing.

After telling Ross their story, John admitted that he didn’t know why he was telling the story. It was something he never talked about with anyone not in his household. 

Ross responded with, “I know exactly why,” and proceeded to tell John about Spring Creek Ministries and the work they do to support people in crisis, be it short term or long term. 

Not long after, John received a phone call from Tiffany. Ross turned to his wife, Haley, and told her he felt like this was the car he needed to buy. It came in under his budget, but Ross decided to put the extra towards their medical expenses. 

Through his years of experience and connections in the nonprofit world, Ross was able to leverage relationships not only with SCM but with other organizations, including Hallie’s Heroes and Colton’s Encouragement, to find support for the Burks. As part of his role on the SCM board, Ross even initiated a fundraiser to help the Burks cover the substantial travel expenses for Brynn’s treatments, as they traveled frequently from Lubbock to Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston, Texas.

While putting the final touches on the setup, Brynn began to perk up. Whether driven by curiosity, feeling better, or a combination of both, she began to enter monkey-mode; getting wiggly and climbing on furniture and parents. 

It’s not typically the type of behavior we would encourage on set, but seeing this little girl getting to act like she was feeling good was worth putting protocol aside (safety first, of course).

Soon, we interviewed John and Tiffany. They told their story, leaving no stone unturned and no emotion untapped. 

Normally, Jacob takes the reins in our video production interviews so Ross can monitor the audio and video.

This day was no different, with one exception. When it came time for Brynn to speak, she went from monkey-mode to clam-mode. We couldn’t have pried anything out of her with a crowbar.

Not to worry.

Remember, earlier, when it was mentioned that Reed was helping with that video shoot?

While Ross and Jacob were setting up and Brynn was getting playful, she made friends with Reed; a gift that Reed is truly blessed with.

Having observed this, Ross suggested that we have Reed conduct Brynn’s portion of the interview.

After about a minute, she opened right up and we got as much from her as we could.

The moment video production wrapped, it was clear: the Spring Creek Ministries Brynn Burk story was destined to be profoundly impactful. It became our immediate and utmost priority to handle this narrative with the deep care and respect it deserved, recognizing its potential to move hearts and inspire action.

For Ross, this project quickly transcended the typical client engagement. His personal investment ran deeper than normally expected, fueled by a genuine desire to infuse this fundraising video with something truly extraordinary. He made it his mission to ensure Brynn’s journey was not just presented, but truly felt.

One of the persistent challenges we face when creating promotional videos for non-profit organizations is the inherent limitation of physical presence. Hamil Bros Studios, unfortunately, cannot be at every single event these incredible organizations host. Nor can we be present when families are enduring unimaginable hardships, walking through fire, simply fighting to survive long enough to glimpse a glimmer of hope on the other side. These are the moments of raw vulnerability and unwavering resilience that often define their stories.

In such situations, the collaboration of the families and organizations themselves becomes invaluable. When they are able to provide us with their own photos and videos from these crucial events, it makes an immeasurable difference. These personal glimpses act as vital visual threads, skillfully weaving together the narrative tapestry where our own footage might be absent. They bridge the gaps, allowing us to maintain the emotional continuity and depth of the story, even when we weren’t physically there to capture every single moment.

In the case of the Spring Creek Ministries Brynn Burk story, the Burk family truly “came in clutch.” Their willingness to share as much as they possibly could—their personal collection of photos and videos—was nothing short of remarkable. This collaborative effort was absolutely pivotal. It allowed us to inject a profound level of emotion into some of the most gut-wrenching moments they spoke of, moments that might otherwise have been difficult to fully convey. 

Their contributions made us feel as though we were right there alongside them, experiencing every step of their journey, forging an unbreakable connection with their courage and perseverance. This intimate connection, born from shared visuals and shared vulnerability, ultimately allowed us to craft a fundraising video that resonated with authenticity and heartfelt empathy, ensuring Brynn’s story would touch countless lives.