Nothing short of miraculous…
An American pastor kidnapped in South Africa has reportedly been rescued and emerged unscathed from a deadly shootout that broke out during the rescue mission.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (HAWKS) released a statement announcing that an operation led by the agency “resulted in the successful rescue” of an American pastor who was kidnapped.
Though the news release did not name the pastor, 34-year-old Josh Sullivan, of Tennessee, was kidnapped by several armed, masked men last week at his church in the Eastern Cape, Fellowship Baptist Church Motherwell.
Police said they received tips that Sullivan was inside a safe house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha.
When they arrived at the home, suspects inside a car on the premises began firing at law enforcement and attempted to flee before a “high-intensity shootout” broke out and three unidentified suspects were killed.
Sullivan was found inside the same car that the suspects were in, but he was “miraculously unharmed,” police said, adding that he is “currently in an excellent condition.”
Tom Hatley, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, confirmed Sullivan’s rescue early Wednesday morning in a Facebook post.
“Josh has been released. I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known’. SA media has started broadcasting. American media will follow. Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for The Sullivans. Praise The Lord Jesus Christ!” he wrote.
Sullivan went to South Africa with his wife and two children in 2018 after the couple participated in a six-month internship there in 2015 as part of their Bible training to become missionaries.
“It was during this time that the Lord began to stir their hearts specifically for the Xhosa people,” fellow Missionary Mark Coffey said. “They returned in 2018 as full-time church-planting missionaries, determined to share the Gospel and see lives changed. Josh committed himself to two years of language school and became fluent in Xhosa so he could preach, disciple, and minister more effectively.”
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