In what police describe as a miracle, officers yesterday rescued a US missionary pastor from his kidnappers during an intensive shootout in Gqeberha (PE), in which three unidentified suspects were killed.
The pastor, Josh Sullivan, 45, was found unharmed in the vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack on police who approached the vehicle outside a suspected safe house in KwaMagxaki, said Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba in a statement released today.
“Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition,” said Fumba.
Sullivan, who has been living in South Africa with his wife, Meagan, and their children since 2018, was abducted at gunpoint from his church, Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a Gqeberha township, while he was preaching at a service last Thursday evening. His family was present when he was taken away by four masked attackers. Subsequently his kidnappers demanded an undisclosed ransom.
His wife, church in the US, Christian supporters and prayer networks quickly mobilised prayers for his rescue. The good news of his release has been making headlines in SA and abroad since the Hawks broke the news this morning.
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According to the Hawks statement, after receiving verified intelligence “a coordinated team comprising of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team of the Hawks, Anti-Gang Unit, Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team and other key law enforcement partners moved swiftly to the identified location”.
The statement adds: “As investigations continue, we respectfully request privacy for the victim and his family as they navigate this period of recovery.”
Fox News reports that Tom Hatley, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, Sullivan’s US hometown, said in a Facebook post today: “Josh has been released. I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known’. SA media has started broadcasting. American media will follow. Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for The Sullivans. Praise The Lord Jesus Christ!” he wrote.
Sullivan spent years learning how to be a pastor under Hatley’s leadership, according to congregation members on Facebook. He went to SA with his wife and their children in 2018 after the couple participated in a six-month internship there in 2015 as part of their Bible training to become missionaries.
“It was during this time that the Lord began to stir their hearts specifically for the Xhosa people,” fellow Missionary Mark Coffey said. “They returned in 2018 as full-time church-planting missionaries, determined to share the Gospel and see lives changed. Josh committed himself to two years of language school and became fluent in Xhosa so he could preach, disciple, and minister more effectively.”
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