American missionary reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint in South Africa during church service

The search for an American missionary continued on Sunday in South Africa after his Tennessee church said he was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint during a service last week.

Josh Sullivan of Tennessee was reportedly abducted by armed men who burst into a church in Motherwell, a township near the seaport city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, the Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee said on its Facebook page.

Lt. Gen. Avele Fumba of the South African Police Service confirmed to ABC News on Saturday that the agency’s elite Hawks unit is investigating an alleged kidnapping of “a man believed to be the pastor of a local church” in the Gqeberha area.

The incident unfolded at about 7 p.m. local time on Thursday when the pastor of the church “was allegedly confronted by at least four unknown armed suspects during a church service,” Fumba told ABC News in a statement.

Witnesses told investigators that the suspects forced the minister into his own vehicle and fled, Fumba said. South African Police Service spokesperson Capt. Andre Beetge confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press that the stolen truck, a silver Toyota 4Runner, was found abandoned in Motherwell a short time after the kidnapping.

“In response to the incident, a multidisciplinary task team consisting of various specialized police units was activated,” Fumba said. “The team is currently following all possible leads to locate the victim and apprehend the perpetrators.”

Fumba declined to release the name or nationality of the kidnapped pastor, but Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, identified him on its Facebook page as Josh Sullivan and asked people to pray for his safe return.

ABC News has reached out to the church for further comment.

Sullivan’s mother, Tonya Rinker of Maryville, Tennessee, also confirmed that her son is the pastor who was abducted.

“As a mother, you never think about something like this happening to your child but faith carries you through the uncertainty,” Rinker told ABC News in a statement. “Joshua’s humor and wit are a blessing, he’s always ready with a joke, and forever seeking to make people laugh.”

Rinker added, “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. I pray for his safe return, filled with faith and assurance.”

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said they’re aware of reports of a U.S. citizen being kidnapped in South Africa.

According to a biography on what appears to Sullivan’s website, he describes himself as a “church-planting missionary to the country of South Africa,” who arrived there in November 2018 with his wife, Meagan, and their children to run Fellowship Baptist’s Motherwell church there.

Sullivan has been on the staff at Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville since 2012, according to his website.