The gunmen in South Africa have kidnapped an American missionary from their church while giving him a sermon, police and a colleague said Friday.
Pastor Josh Sullivan was kidnapped Thursday night at the Motherwell Baptist Church in Motherwell, outside the coastal city of Gqberha, in what seemed to be a kidnapping for the rescue, a colleague told AFP.
The kidnappings, even by criminal gangs that are addressed to people for whom great bailouts can be demanded, have increased in South Africa in recent years.
“It is alleged that while a sermon was made in the church, four armed and masked suspects entered the church,” police said in a statement. “They stole two cell phones and then the 45 -year -old male shepherd with them and fled the scene.”
A spokesman for the United States Department of the United States told the BBC that they realize the kidnapping of an American citizen in South Africa.
Reverend Jeremy Hall, a pastor also based in the city of Southeast, told AFP that the kidnapping was probably “related financial.”
Police spokesman, Captain Andre Beetge, said the protocol issued that once a rescue was demanded, the case would be delivered to the Hawks, a specialized police unit that investigates organized crime, economic crime, corruption and other serious crimes.
“As I understand, there has been no rescue,” Beetge said, urging anyone with information to be presented.
Sullivan was a prayer meeting with about 30 people, including his wife and six children, when armed kidnappers entered, Hall said.
“They knew him by name,” he said. They took him to gunpoint and forced him to enter his car and left. The abandoned car was recovered to a church mile.
Sullivan arrived in South Africa with his family from Tennessee in November 2018, according to his personal website.
“We are looking to finish the language school soon and plant a church for the people of Xhosa Speak,” he writes in place.
Sullivan has been in Fellowship Baptist Church personnel in Maryville, Tennessee, since February 2012, according to the website.
“Pray for Josh Sullivan, a missionary to South Africa,” the church wrote on its Facebook page.
While waiting for Sullivan’s safe return, supporters went to the Pastor Personal Blog site and other social media platforms to offer their good goods.
“Now we are praying to have delivered from the evil men of the thesis,” said a poster called Richard Stockton on the Church’s website. “Praying to the Holy Spirit, work well in their hearts and be saved. And free!”
Another supporter named Kody Moore said Josh was a “faithful brother doing a lot to give Christ known in Africa.”
“Please, pray for Josh to bring home with certainty and species the duration of his family at this absolutely terrible moment. May Christ be magnified,” he tweeted in X.
The Police Anti-Gang unit said that a Chinese citizen was also kidnapped on Tuesday in the city, which is located in the Indian ocean and about 570 miles southeast of Johannesburg.
There were more than 17,000 kidnappings in South Africa in the financial year 2023-2024, an increase of 11 percent with respect to the previous year, in accordance with police statistics.
South Africa has also been affected by the growing armed violence. Every day, 33 people are killed by weapons in South Africa, according to South Africa Firearms, a non -profit organization that advocates a reduction in armed violence.
Associated Press contributed to this report.