INSTITUTE FOR FAMILY-CENTERED HEALING & HEALTH
Study Guide
A reflection and application guide for Christian foster and adoptive families facing serious struggle
Foster and adoptive families don’t have to navigate seasons of crisis alone.
The When There Is Crisis Study Guide helps foster and adoptive parents navigate times of crisis — or equips you to walk with families in those seasons.
Designed to be used alongside the book When There Is Crisis, the study guide offers parents reflection, discussion and application prompts, and an online hub of further resources.
Rather than leaving families to absorb content, the study guide invites them to slow down and prayerfully consider — within a group, as couples, or individually — what these ideas mean for their specific family as they seek to cultivate growth and healing over time.
What You'll Find
A Study Guide and Online Hub
to help families reflect and apply key ideas for navigating crisis.
Curated Insights
Grounded in Scripture and science, the study guide helps families and those supporting them move through the ideas in When There Is Crisis at a thoughtful pace, reflecting on what it means for their specific situations.
Practical Tools
for discernment and next steps.
Practical Guidance
The study guide and online hub offer tools for learning, reflection, prayer and setting practical next steps.
A Fuller Vision
for healing and flourishing over time.
Key Principles
Rather than focusing only on immediate crisis response, the resources invite attention to the daily practices, relationships and habits that can cultivate healing and long-term growth.
Turn-Key Resources
for churches and organizations walking alongside families.
Everyday Practices
Together with When There Is Crisis, the study guide and the online hub provide churches and organizations with ready-to-use tools for group and individual family support.
Each Module Includes:
Key ideas from the full When There Is Crisis handbook
Scripture and prayer prompts
Group discussion and personal reflection questions
Practical exercises and planning tools
Guidance for setting a concrete next step
Additional resources through an online hub
Download a Free Sample Bundle
Access the Introduction and Module 1, which helps parents acknowledge the pain and complexity of what they are facing while opening themselves to consider crisis in light of God’s goodness, expressed through His readiness to be their companion in suffering and His intention to bring good from it.
About the Authors
Rachel Medefind
Rachel is Director of the Institute for Family-Centered Healing & Health at the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). She holds a Master’s in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health from King’s College London, with a focus on early adversity. She has served on multiple boards supporting vulnerable children, helped found Tyndale Christian School in Arlington, Virginia and advises families facing complex parenting challenges.
Her book, When There Is Crisis: A Handbook for Christian Foster & Adoptive Families Facing Serious Struggle, and its accompanying study guide offer biblically grounded principles and research-based, practical guidance for families walking through seasons of crisis.
Rachel and her husband, Jedd, have welcomed children through birth, adoption and foster care.
Jason Johnson
Jason serves as the National Director of The Pure Religion Project with Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). In his work, he develops resources, coaches leaders and teaches in a variety of contexts on church-based ministry structures, organizational leadership and strategy. He is also a sought-after speaker for churches, retreats, conferences, and events for foster and adoptive parents, as well as for those considering getting involved.
Prior to his work at CAFO, Jason spent 14 years in church staff ministry, including planting and pastoring a church in Houston. It’s there that his family's foster care journey began.
Jason and his wife, Emily, live in Texas with their daughters. He has authored four books: Reframing Foster Care, Everyone Can Do Something, The ALL IN Curriculum and Effectively Engaging Churches.
Get the When There Is Crisis Study Guide today.
Purchase the study guide alongside When There Is Crisis to help foster and adoptive parents navigate seasons of serious struggle, and get access to an additional online hub of resources to go even deeper.
