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The demand for an American missionary continued on Sunday in South Africa after his Tennessee church said he was abducted during a shooting at last week.
It is reported that Josh Sullivan of Tennessee was abducted by armed men who exploded in a church in Madelel, a city near the Gkberha sea port in East Cape province in South Africa, the Baptist Church in Meriville in Meriville, Tennessee said on his Facebook page.
Lieutenant General Avele Fumba of the South Africa Police Service confirmed to ABC News on Saturday that the Hawks Elite Department is investigating the alleged abduction of a “person who is thought to be a local church” in the GQEBERHA region.
It is reported that American missionary Josh Sullivan, seen in this unspoken photo, was abducted, April 10, 2025, during a church service in Madskel, South Africa, according to members of his Tennessee church. (Baptist Church for Baptist Processing)
With the kind assistance of the Baptist Church
The incident unfolded around 19:00 local time on Thursday, when the church pastor “was said to be facing at least four unknown armed suspects during a church service,” Fumba told ABC News in a statement.
Witnesses told investigators that the suspects were forcing the minister in his own vehicle and escaped, Fumba said. South Africa police service spokesman Captain Andre Bate confirmed in a statement to the Associated Press that the stolen truck, a silver Toyota 4runner, was found abandoned at Motherwell shortly after the abduction.
“In response to the incident, a multidisciplinary task team was activated consisting of various specialized police units,” Fumba said. “Currently, the team follows all possible leaders to find the victim and detain the perpetrators.”
Fumba declined to release the name or nationality of the abducted pastor, but the Baptist Church of Communion in Meriville, Tennessee, identified it on his Facebook page as Josh Sullivan and asked people to pray for his safe return.
ABC News turned to church for further comment.
Sullivan’s mother, Tonya Rinker of Meriville, Tennessee, also confirmed that her son was the pastor who was abducted.
“As a mother, you never think of anything like this that happens to your child, but faith brings you through uncertainty,” Rinker told ABC News in a statement. “Joshua’s humor and wit are a blessing, he is always ready with a joke and forever seeks to make people laugh.”
Rinker added: “He is an exceptional father, husband and son, embodding kindness, strength and generosity. He has a heart of a servant, a nice compassionate spirit and is filled with selflessness. He has a weight to his lost souls and has devoted his life to service to God in South Africa.
A spokesman for the US Department of State said he was familiar with reports that a US citizen was abducted in South Africa.
According to a biography of what seems to be on Sullivan’s website, he is described as “a missionary placing the country’s church south Africa”, who arrived there in November 2018 with his wife Meagan and their children to rule the Mamwi church of the Baptist there.
He has been Sullivan at Fellowship’s Baptist Church staff in Meriville since 2012, according to his website.
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