The town of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania had been praying for Jessica Buchanan for three months, and on Wednesday, their prayers were finally answered. Hostage Jessica Buchanan was rescued by U.S. Navy SEALS in Somalia and is now being brought home to Pennsylvania to be reunited with her family.
U.S. military forces also rescued 60-year-old Danish hostage Poul Hagen Thisted, according to the Associated Press.
A 2007 graduate of Valley Forge, Buchanan was working as an aid working in Somalia when she was captured by pirates and held in captivity for three months.
Valley Forge President Don Meyer expressed his excitement to USA Today. "We just feel this overwhelming deep sense of gratitude to God for his faithfulness in her life, gratitude to those who had the courage to put themselves in harm's way," he said.
After learning of Buchanan's release from her brother-in-law, who currently attends Valley Forge, Meyer shared the joyous news with his students at a Wednesday morning prayer service.
Before she started working in refugee camps in Somalia, Buchanan applied her early education degree to teaching in Nairobi, Kenya.
President Obama called Jessica's father, John Buchanan, on Tuesday to tell him that his daughter had been rescued. Her father said: "I'm extremely proud and glad to be an American,"
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.