American Pastor kidnapped at gunpoint during church service in South Africa

By Mark Ogagan

An American Pastor from Tennessee, Josh Sullivan has been kidnapped during church service in Eastern Cape province, South Africa, and was taken away at gunpoint in front of his wife and children.

Sullivan (Pictured), was delivering a sermon before a congregation when four men broke into the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell Township on Thursday, stole cellphones, and took the pastor hostage.

Police has launched an investigation into the abduction.

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

A Maryville woman, Tonya Rinker, said she is Sullivan’s mother. She posted a picture of the pastor on Facebook, asking for prayers for her son, daughter-in-law and grandkids.

“Please pray for Josh Sullivan, missionary to South Africa,” the church wrote on its Facebook page.

According to the Fellowship Baptist church blog, Sullivan described himself as a ‘church-planting missionary’. The 45-year-old arrived in South Africa with his family in November 2018, his personal website notes.