Tennessee Pastor Kidnapped In South Africa During Sermon
on Apr 13, 2025
An East Tennessee church is asking for prayer after one of its parishioners was abducted at gunpoint during a church service in South Africa.
34-year-old Josh Sullivan was reportedly kidnapped after a group of “at least four men” entered the church in Motherwell, Eastern Cape, South Africa, during a prayer meeting where he, his wife, and their six children had gathered with approximately 30 others.
South African Police Service Leiutenant General Avele Fumba told ABC News that the agency is investigating the abduction of “a man believed to be the pastor of a local church.”
While Fumba declined to identify the abducted pastor, Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, posted about the incident on their Facebook page and identified Sullivan as a missionary from their congregation.
Fumba told the outlet that the incident occurred Thursday evening. Witnesses say that the armed men forced Sullivan into his own vehicle, a silver Toyota 4Runner, and fled from the church. The vehicle was found a short time after the kidnapping, but there were no signs of Sullivan or his assailants.
Witnesses also reported that the men took the phones of Sullivan and his wife before “beating him up” and kidnapping him.
A colleague of Sullivan’s told CBS News that the kidnappers knew Sullivan by name and that the abduction “was probably financially related.” Other outlets report that his kidnappers have demanded a ransom for his safe return.
About Josh Sullivan
Josh Sullivan and his wife, Meagan, moved to South Africa in 2018 to build and plant churches.
Josh and Meagan are parents of 4 biological children and two adopted from South Africa.
Josh’s mother, Tonya Rinker, said of her son: “He’s an exceptional father, husband, and son, embodying kindness, strength and generosity. He has a servant’s heart, a kind, compassionate spirit, and is filled with selflessness. He has a burden for lost souls and has devoted his life to serving God in South Africa.”
Kidnappings in South Africa are becoming more common.
In 2023-2024, more than 17,000 kidnappings took place in South Africa, marking an 11% increase over the year prior.
Gun Free South Africa reports that an average of 33 people are killed every day, an indication of the increased crime rate in the country. South Africa has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world. And kidnapping stats have increased a startling 200% in the last decade.
The soaring crime rates are reportedly due to an influx of organized crime units operating in the country.
“There are two types of kidnapping syndicates. The smaller gangs demand anything from 50,000 to 300,000 rand [$2,600-16,000]. And it’s out of greed,” Yusuf Abramjee, an anti-crime activist, said.
“The smaller ones are all local. Then you have the bigger syndicates with international links. Sometimes the money has to be paid in Bitcoin and in foreign bank accounts and foreign exchanges like in Dubai.”
Abramjee added that kidnapping victims are only held for a few hours while bank accounts are wiped out. In other cases, victims are held for a few days while larger ransoms are negotiated.
