The parents of 19-year old Brockport Central School graduate Hannah VanDuzee are grateful their daughter is alive and well. Hannah is in Nepal with 360 Maine/Youth With a Mission (YWAM) – a worldwide Christian missionary movement – and experienced the 7.8 magnitude earthquake April 25 which devastated the country and killed thousands of people.
Hannah’s mom, Marilyn, says she was awakened at 5:30 a.m. the weekend of April 25 by a phone call from a leader of Hannah’s group who had returned to the States, telling her Nepal had been hit by a major earthquake.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” Marilyn says. “I got down on my knees and prayed … I read the Bible.” Two hours later she and her husband, Matt, got the news that Hannah was safe. Despite the worry and anxiety, Marilyn says, “We are very proud of our daughter, this will be a life-changing experience for her.”
Hannah has been in Nepal for a month-and-a-half, working with her YWAM team in small villages outside Katmandu teaching the Bible. She was in a small village near Pokhara when the earthquake hit. Marilyn says the area is remote and there are not many buildings.
However, one small village where Hannah’s team had recently traveled and where they had “witnessed to people for five days,” was not so fortunate, Marilyn says. It was completely destroyed in the quake. “It’s totally gone,” Marilyn explains, “100 people were killed.”
Hannah’s YWAM team is now working to help victims near the earthquake’s epicenter in the Gorkha District. They planned to leave mid-week with supplies and water to “help victims in anyway they can,” Marilyn says.
YWAM team members in Katmandu are safe and are helping victims there by distributing food. They cannot get out of the city to help in the outlying areas, Marilyn says, so Hannah’s team is especially important in going to remote areas around the epicenter.
Marilyn notes that Hannah was scheduled to return home in a couple of weeks, but that may change because of the earthquake.
360 Maine is a “gap year” program, between high school and college, Marilyn explains. The group’s website – www.360maine.org – states that participants can experience personal discipleship, gain a global perspective and sharpen Biblical worldview. YWAM is part of the outreach phase of the program.
Hannah had biblical training in Maine and then completed two months of outreach in New York City before her trip to Nepal, Marilyn says. She also underwent physical training to help her prepare for the demands of hiking in the mountains of Nepal.
