The American pastor Josh Sullivan issued a statement after being rescued from captivity after a mortal shooting in the province of the Eastern Cabo in South Africa.
“I want to start thanking God for giving myself what was undoubtedly the sausage experience of our life,” Sullivan wrote in a press release. He said his “personal relationship with Jesus” gave him the strength he needed to survive.
Joshua Sullivan was kidnapped by armed men on April 10. (Melowship Baptist Church/Facebook)
American pastor kidnapped in South Africa rescued after a mortal shooting
“I am deeply grateful to the thousands of people who prayed for me while I was in captivity. It was for these prayers that God made a miracle a few ago.”
Sullivan also expressed his gratitude for the Directorate of Investigation of Priority Crimes (Hawks), the FBI, the Special Agents of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and the South Africa Police. Hey also said he was grateful for his wife, “whose strength and resistance made her the strongest woman in the world last week.”
Josh Sullivan, an American pastor from Tennessee, has been working as a missionary in South Africa with his wife and children since 2018. (Baptist Church of Fellowship Motherwell/Facebook)
The kidnapping of the American shepherd in South Africa fed by the high incidents of armed robbery in recent years
Sullivan asked for privacy, but said he would tell his “miraculous” story “when the time is correct.”
Hawks said an operation led by the agency “resulted in the successful rescue” or an American citizen, “according to reports, a local shepherd who had allegedly kidnapped in legs and hero in a safe house in Komagxaki, Gqberhaha, on April 15, 2025.”
Josh Sullivan was safely rescued on Tuesday, according to South Africa officials. (AP)
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Sullivan was kidnapped when four men broke his church and dragged him from the pulpit, according to Associated Press, that his truck was found hours later. The Outlet reported that Sullivan has had its headquarters in the branch of the municipality of Motherwell of the Baptist Church Fellowship since 2018.
Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.