Freed U.S. aid workers meet with Bush

Mercer greets family and friends after touching down at Dulles on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two American citizens, rescued earlier this month after a four-month detainment in Afghanistan, met privately with President Bush on Monday.

"It's a wonderful story about prayer, about the faith that can sustain people in good times and in bad times," Bush said, alongside Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry at a White House ceremony after the meeting.

Mercer and Curry returned to the United States on Sunday, thanking God for their freedom.

They also said they'd repeat the experience if given the chance.

CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

"It's a great day," Mercer said from suburban Washington. "We have a lot to be thankful for."

A plane carrying Mercer, 24, and Curry, 30, landed at Dulles International Airport Sunday afternoon, ending a harrowing ordeal.

In August, Taliban authorities jailed the two women, four Germans and two Australians belonging to Shelter Now International, a German relief agency that provided food and homes to Afghanistan's poor.

The aid workers were charged with trying to convert Muslims to Christianity in the Afghanistan, an Islamic state, a trial was scheduled. That trial never took place, thanks to the U.S.-led military campaign and Northern Alliance advances.

Their Taliban captors took the eight prisoners with them when they fled Kabul in early November, only to abandon them in a prison in Ghazni, a town en route to Kandahar. Locals and Northern Alliance forces discovered them on November 15, and U.S. special forces shuttled them to safety in Pakistan.

Sixteen Afghan coworkers, whom the Taliban also accused of proselytizing, managed to escape their captors and flee Kabul, too.

Mercer said the group passed the time in captivity singing religious songs and praying.

"That's how we got through," she said.

While the women have said the Taliban treated them fairly, they acknowledge some "scary" times, particularly during this fall's heavy U.S. bombing raids.

"We hope this whole situation brings awareness to Afghanistan," Mercer said. "We hope that out of this Afghanistan can be rebuilt. We hope the people can have a season of peace."