An American missionary, Pastor Josh Sullivan, has been abducted by armed assailants while delivering a sermon at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, near Gqeberha, South Africa.
According to Naija News, both the police and a fellow pastor confirmed the incident, which occurred on Thursday and is believed to be ransom-related.
Police reported that four masked and armed men stormed the church during the service, stealing two mobile phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and fleeing the scene.
Reverend Jeremy Hall, a colleague of Pastor Sullivan, told AFP that the attackers appeared to know Sullivan personally. At the time of the incident, Sullivan was leading a prayer meeting attended by about 30 people, including his wife and six children.
“They called him by name,” Hall said. He added that the assailants threatened the pastor at gunpoint, forced him into his vehicle, and drove off. The vehicle was later found abandoned roughly 1.5 kilometers from the church.
Pastor Sullivan and his family moved to South Africa from Tennessee in November 2018, according to his personal website.
This incident follows the reported abduction of a Chinese national earlier in the same week in Gqeberha. The city, located on South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast, has seen an increase in such crimes.
Kidnappings for ransom have become increasingly common in South Africa. Official police statistics reveal that more than 17,000 kidnappings were recorded during the 2023/2024 financial year—an 11% rise compared to the previous year.
Authorities, including the anti-gang unit, are investigating the incident as efforts intensify to secure Pastor Sullivan’s safe return.
