Yes, brokenness happens in families of faith too. Rene says, “As a child advocate and Christian, I believe it is imperative that faith-based communities understand the importance and impact of our life experiences. While our experiences are both good and bad, I believe faith-based communities should encourage discussions about the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by using family dysfunction in the book of Genesis as a starting point.”
In their book Family: It’s Complicated—a Bible Study of Adverse Childhood Experiences(ACEs) in Genesis, co-authors Rene Howitt and Pastor Tim Wesemann combine their experiences and understanding of dysfunctional families. This small-group or personal Bible study offers reactive solutions using the ACEs study as a blueprint for discussing dysfunctional similarities between families found in Genesis and today’s families. The balance of anecdotes, statistics, and study questions will assist individuals, churches, and faith-based groups and in cultivating healthier, stronger relationships.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Rene Howitt is founder of COPE24, a non-profit child advocacy organization, and appointed member of Missouri’s Task Force on Children’s Justice and the Critical Event Review committees.
Tim Wesemann founded Foolish Words, a writing and speaking ministry, after serving as a parish pastor for eleven years. He is author of over fifty books and devotionals for children, youth, and adults with more than 2.5 million copies in print.
(Source: Charisma Media)