Foundation Church: A Lighthouse in Disaster Recovery
The story is remarkable, not just because of the Hanges’ ministry but because just 20 years ago, they needed rescue as well. The spiritual kind.
The couple’s video testimonies tell the story.
In their teens, Nicholas and Megan partied, became drug addicts, and wanted nothing to do with God. Both were traumatized — Megan by her mother’s death and Nicholas by his father’s suicide. Both nearly lost their lives as young adults: Nicholas tried to take his own life, and Megan outran a man intent on killing her. Both bottomed out, with Nicholas living on the streets and Megan sitting in jail, convicted of 26 drug-related charges.
By God’s grace, the two entered Adult Teen Challenge in Midland, Texas, and were embraced by a loving family of believers that led them to Christ. Nicholas and Megan served on staff there, then met each other, and married after graduating.
Nicholas sensed a call to ministry, so he studied at Berean School of the Bible and was ordained. During the seven years they served as youth pastors at Abundant Life Worship Center in Midland, Nicholas and Megan started their family of three children: Sophie, Demetri, and Theo, now 15, 11, and 7.
In August 2016, the Hanges began as lead pastors at Foundation Church. For the next eight years, they ministered to a congregation that had captured their hearts.
In their ninth year, the flood hit.
Northwest Iowa received heavy rainfall June 20-21 last year, causing massive flooding in Spencer on the 22nd. The Hanges’ house had a little water, and the church, far from the flood area, had none.
On Saturday, June 22, Megan organized a group to sandbag the Ocheyedan River and protect city communications. Nicholas, 43, rescued people from their homes using kayaks. The Hanges opened their home and the church for shelter on Saturday night.
The next day, the head of the local Chamber of Commerce called Nicholas. Could Foundation Church serve as the distribution center for the county? The Hanges were all in.
Foundation member Tom Morse, 55, and his family spent Saturday night at the church due to sewer water flooding their basement. He wasn’t surprised at the Hanges’ hospitality. “There are not too many pastors that willingly give up their time and their church building to a community that’s hurting. But that's their heart.”
Within hours on Sunday, buses from nearby Okoboji arrived with bottled water, food, and other items. In two days, Convoy of Hope’s truck pulled in — a moment Megan, 39, will never forget. “When you're in the middle of a catastrophic event and you've seen your community under water, and you've seen people hurting and dragging their things through water to escape the flood, these trucks rolled in. It almost dropped me to my knees.”
With the staff of Convoy guiding them, Nicholas and Megan learned the mechanics of running a distribution center. Rooms filled with supplies. An area was set aside for mental health services. Approximately 75 volunteers from all walks of life showed up every day to serve.
In the following weeks, Foundation functioned as a distribution center while holding weekly worship services. Other ministries assisted as well. Christ in Action (CIA) established a home base with Foundation, sending out daily teams to excavate flood-damaged homes and muck out basements.
In the fall when ministries left and Spencer started its “new normal,” Megan was hired by a local non-profit to work full time with long-term recovery — thanks to her sharp organizational skills at the distribution center. To Megan, it’s more ministry than job. “I found my passion,” she says. “I love disaster recovery. I love helping people in the midst of these dark times when I can shine a little light into their world and help them.”
In addition to this, Nicholas’ and Megan’s past trauma helps them connect with people who, nearly a year later, still bear emotional scars from the disaster. “The trauma helps,” Nicholas says. “It’s not a curse; it's a blessing because you have that shared experience that will never go away.”
Nicholas says that Foundation Church has become a lighthouse. Its full-time pantry is open for ongoing needs. And it provides an official response-ready team through Christ in Action, sending volunteers to disaster deployments, like Florida after Hurricane Helene (2024).
The Hanges also went through CIA’s Pastoral Crisis Response training in Virginia, broadening their ministry to a different demographic. “We're not only called to drug addicts,” Nicholas explains. “It's the elderly who are living in a FEMA trailer. They had mental health issues, and they just need somebody to be with them and love them and maybe give them a new mattress or a new place to live. Everything is restorative and redemptive in disaster relief and recovery.”
Last year, Megan was given the Spirit of Spencer Award for her work during the flood, and she and Nicholas were nominated for Citizens of the Year, quite a leap from living on the streets and serving time in jail.
But to the Hanges, it’s not about awards. It’s about God redeeming their past for the present. Nicholas says, “This is God taking horrible things and using them for His glory. That's what He does, right? He turns our mourning into dancing. This is His specialty.”
