U.S. pastor abducted at gunpoint while delivering sermon in South Africa: "They knew him by name"

[mountaineer]

U.S. pastor abducted at gunpoint while delivering sermon in South Africa: "They knew him by name"
Updated on: April 11, 2025 / 4:41 PM EDT / CBS/AFP

Gunmen in South Africa have abducted a U.S. missionary from his church as he was delivering a sermon, police and a colleague said Friday.

Pastor Josh Sullivan was abducted late Thursday at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell outside the coastal city of Gqeberha in what appeared to be a kidnapping for ransom, a colleague told AFP.

Kidnappings, including by criminal gangs that target people for whom large ransoms can be demanded, have been increasing in South Africa in recent years.

"It is alleged that while a sermon was conducted at the church, four armed and masked male suspects entered the church," police said in a statement. "They robbed two cell phones and then took the 45-year-old male pastor with them and fled the scene."

A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department told the BBC that they were aware of the kidnapping of an American citizen in South Africa. ...

[mountaineer]

U.S. Missionary Abducted at Gunpoint While Preaching in South Africa
4/11/2025

 Josh Sullivan, a U.S. Baptist missionary, was kidnapped at gunpoint as he preached Thursday evening at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa. 

According to police, four masked gunmen entered the church late last night during a prayer meeting with about 30 attendees. The assailants robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and taking him in his own vehicle, a silver Toyota Fortuner. The car was later found abandoned about a mile from the church. 

Sullivan, a husband and father of six, has been a missionary in South Africa since 2018. Sullivan and his family are members of Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee, where Sullivan has been on staff. His wife and children are among those who witnessed the kidnapping.   ...
https://www.persecution.org/2025/04/11/u-s-missionary-abducted-at-gunpoint-while-preaching-in-south-africa/

[Timber Rattler]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/american-pastor-kidnapped-south-africa-rescued-after-deadly-police-shootout

Authorities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa rescued a kidnapped American pastor during a deadly shootout on Tuesday at a house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (HAWKS) released a statement announcing that an operation led by the agency "resulted in the successful rescue" of an American pastor who was kidnapped.

Though the news release did not name the pastor, 34-year-old Josh Sullivan, of Tennessee, was kidnapped by several armed, masked men last week at his church in the Eastern Cape, Fellowship Baptist Church Motherwell.

Police said they received tips that Sullivan was inside a safe house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha.

When they arrived at the home, suspects inside a car on the premises began firing at law enforcement and attempted to flee.

A "high-intensity shootout" took place and three unidentified suspects were killed.

Sullivan was found inside the same car that the suspects were in, but he was "miraculously unharmed," police said, adding that he is "currently in an excellent condition."

EXCERPT

[Sighlass]

Can't imagine what it would be like to be in a car during a shootout and 3 bad guys shot dead and still live though it. Then again, I would likely not be in some town called "KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha" unless the Lord willed it. I wonder how many churches with roots back to moneybag America pay hostage fees, putting targets on the rest of the pastors there in S.A..

[Mod2]

Topics merged

[Wingnut]

That Pastor is luckier than Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield.

[Smokin Joe]

That Pastor is luckier than Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield.

Someone was looking out for him. Someone with real power.

[Fishrrman]

Smokin' Joe wrote
"Someone was looking out for him. Someone with real power."

Even so.
That pastor ought to gather up his family and take the next flight back to the USA.

When you've experienced one miracle, you best not be countin' on too many more...

[MeganC]

Someone was looking out for him. Someone with real power.

Rumor has it that someone has the initials DJT and he sent in special forces to rescue the good pastor. Just a rumor. 

[berdie]

Rumor has it that someone has the initials DJT and he sent in special forces to rescue the good pastor. Just a rumor. 

No offense to you or DJT...but I suspect a much higher power had a hand in it.

[MeganC]

No offense to you or DJT...but I suspect a much higher power had a hand in it.

Selective target discipline played a part, too. That's a hallmark of American special forces.

[mountaineer]

Rescued Missionary Josh Sullivan Describes Kidnapping: ‘Undoubtedly the worst experience of our life’
Protestia
April 25, 2025

Josh Sullivan, the American missionary who was kidnapped at gunpoint while ministering in South Africa and subsequently rescued after police staged a daring rescue to locate and retrieve him, issues a personal statement on his Facebook page about the incident, thanking God for delivering him while thanking the saints who prayed:

I want to begin by thanking God for delivering me from what was undoubtedly the worst experience of our life. I also want to thank him for delivering me from my sin 28 years ago when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Because of my personal relationship with Jesus, He gave me the peace I needed to get through.

I am deeply grateful to the thousands of people who prayed for me while I was in captivity. It was because of these prayers that God performed a miracle a few nights ago.

I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the South African Police Department, HAWKS, FBI, DSS special agents, and my dear friend, Jeremy Hall, whose efforts were instrumental in locating me. ...

... Believed to have been taken with the intent to ask for ransom, South Africa’s elite law enforcement unit, Hawks, were able to locate the safehouse and engaged in a shootout with his captors, killing three of them.

Sullivan was found unharmed inside a vehicle on the premises. ...