Gunmen in South Africa have taken a US missionary from his church during a sermon, as reported by police and a colleague on Friday.
Pastor Josh Sullivan was kidnapped late Thursday at the Fellowship Baptist Church located in Motherwell, near the coastal city of Gqeberha, in what seemed to be a ransom-related abduction.
In recent years, kidnappings, particularly by criminal gangs seeking large ransoms, have been on the rise in South Africa.
“It is alleged that while a sermon was conducted at the church, four armed and masked male suspects entered the church.
“They robbed two cell phones and then took the 45-year-old male pastor with them and fled the scene.” Police said in a statement.
Reverend Jeremy Hall, another pastor from the southeastern city, said that the kidnapping was likely “financially motivated.”
While conducting a prayer meeting attended by approximately 30 individuals, including his wife and six children, four abductors entered, according to Hall.
“They knew him by name,” he said. They took him at gunpoint, forced him into his car, and drove off. The abandoned car was recovered about 1.5 kilometres from the church.
Sullivan moved to South Africa with his family from Tennessee in November 2018, as his personal website states.
The police anti-gang unit reported that a Chinese national was also kidnapped on Tuesday in the city, situated on the Indian Ocean and about 920 kilometers (570 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.
In 2023/2024, South Africa recorded over 17,000 kidnappings, marking an 11-percent rise compared to the previous year, according to police statistics.
