The Fellowship Baptist Church in Tennessee announced that the “South African missionary” Sullivan was abducted at gunpoint while he was preaching.

In the Republic of South Africa, an American priest was kidnapped by armed individuals while giving a sermon. The incident reportedly occurred on Thursday, April 10th, with an announcement made on the social media account of the Fellowship Baptist Church in Gqeberha, Tennessee, saying, “Please pray for South African missionary Josh Sullivan. He was kidnapped at gunpoint by six men during the church service this evening.”

WERE THEY ABDUCTED FOR RANSOM? Another priest working in the city of Gqeberha in South Africa like Sullivan, stated to the AFP news agency that Sullivan seemed to have been kidnapped for ransom. The police, on the other hand, reported to CBC News that armed and masked men entered the church during a sermon, stole two cell phones, and took the 45-year-old priest with them as they fled the scene.

A spokesperson from the US Department of State also informed CBS that they were aware of an American citizen being kidnapped in South Africa, but did not have any further information to share at the moment. The police spokesperson in South Africa, Andre Beetge, stated that there had been no ransom demand made for the kidnapped priest so far.

VEHICLE FOUND 1.5 KILOMETERS AWAY FROM THE CHURCH Priest Jeremy Hall, who serves in the same city as the kidnapped priest, recounted that during the incident at the church, Sullivan’s wife and six children, along with around 30 other people, were present. Hall mentioned, “They knew him by name,” and described how the American priest was taken by force and put into his vehicle, which was found approximately 1.5 kilometers away from the church.

It was reported that the priest and his family arrived in the Republic of South Africa from Tennessee in November 2018. The priest had been a member of the Fellowship Baptist Church in Tennessee since February 2012.