Three members of Soldotna, Alaska, Church of the Nazarene were rescued Monday evening after being stranded in the wilderness for nearly 24 hours following their plane’s crash landing.

Josh Smith and his father-in-law, John White, flew to Anchorage Sunday afternoon in the family’s Cessna 180 to pick up Smith’s daughter, Danielle. The group was traveling home when they went missing about 25 miles northwest of their destination, according to Alaska Dispatch Publishing.

Family members became concerned when the plane didn’t arrive at its destination, and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center and Civil Air Patrol enlisted volunteers in small planes and on snow machines to search for the trio. Volunteers focused on the northern Kenai Peninsula, located between the departure location and the plane’s destination.

The family’s pastor, Bruce Hardesty, contacted Church of the Nazarene Alaska District Superintendent Paul Hartley to ask for prayer as the search began Sunday night, so Hartley posted a message on the district Facebook page.

Initially the volunteers were hopeful as several planes picked up an emergency signal, but they would later learn that signal needed to be triangulated in order to be accurate.

“As you can imagine the family — the Smiths and the Whites, as well as our Soldotna Nazarene and Alaska District family — was very upset over this entire time,” Hartley said. “As the time grew longer, we all grew more and more concerned.”

Meanwhile, as the urgency to find the missing group increased, so did the number of people praying for their safe return.

“Throughout this crisis, something amazing happened within the body of Christ — Nazarenes and many others,” Hartley said. “We had Facebook message after Facebook message from people telling us they were praying.

“At first it was hundreds and then a few thousand viewing and sharing the request and then it began to go viral that night and into the early hours of Monday morning. By mid-day Monday, we had over 100,000 views of our Facebook prayer request. People were commenting that they were praying from all over North America and around the world!”

On Monday morning, the search was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard, who asked the volunteers to return home. Around 1 p.m., the search moved west across the Cook Inlet, which separates Anchorage and Soldotna.

Nearly 24 hours after the crash, a Coast Guard helicopter located the downed plane thanks to a flare the missing group sent up.

“The Smiths and Whites are longtime Alaskan Nazarenes who were prepared for any possible difficulties with survival equipment and winter clothing, which aided in this rescue,” Hartley said. “Around 6 p.m., I received a phone call from Pastor Hardesty letting me know that the plane and all three passengers had been found by the Coast Guard alive.”

They were flown to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where they were evaluated by medical personnel before being reunited with their family.

Noreen Price, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, explained why Smith changed course.

"He chose that route because he thought weather would be better on the west side," Price told Alaska Dispatch Publishing. "He was attempting to do a full-stop landing on an unprepared snow-covered airstrip, and in that process he nosed over the aircraft."

Hartley is grateful for the prayers sent from around the world.

“I would just like to say thank you on behalf of the families and the Alaska District for all your prayers,” Hartley said. “Our God miraculously intervened in this crisis and for that we are very grateful!”