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American missionary Josh Sullivan is thanking God and the thousands of people who prayed for his safe return after he was kidnapped at gunpoint by masked men during a church service in South Africa earlier this month.
As CBN News reported, Sullivan was miraculously rescued during a deadly shootout between his captors and South African law enforcement just last week.
Sullivan’s story caught the world’s attention after Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, posted the news about his abduction on their Facebook page.
Sullivan was holding a prayer meeting at his Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa, with about 30 people, including his wife and children, when four gun-toting kidnappers entered the building.
“It is alleged that while a sermon was conducted at the church, four armed and masked male suspects entered the church,” police said in a statement. “They robbed two cell phones and then took the 34-year-old male pastor with them and fled the scene.”
Reverend Jeremy Hall, a pastor based in the city, told AFP that the kidnappers “knew him by name.”
Sullivan, a father of six, has been working in South Africa since 2018 because he had a “tremendous desire to share the gospel with the Xhosa people of South Africa,” Pastor Tom Hatley of Fellowship Baptist Church in Tennessee said.
After much intercession and work from the South African Police Service, Sullivan was reunited with his family just five days after his kidnapping.
“I want to begin by thanking God for delivering me from what was undoubtedly the worst experience of our life. I also want to thank him for delivering me from my sin 28 years ago when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour. Because of my personal relationship with Jesus, He gave me the peace I needed to get through,” Sullivan wrote in his first public statement on Easter weekend.
“I am deeply grateful to the thousands of people who prayed for me while I was in captivity. It was because of these prayers that God performed a miracle a few nights ago,” he continued.
The 34-year-old did not share any details about his ordeal, but said he is beginning the “difficult process of healing and moving forward.”
“We kindly ask for privacy during this time. I have a miraculous story to share, and I look forward to telling it when the time is right,” he expressed.
Sullivan was held in a safe house located in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha, according to the South African Police Service.
“As officers approached the house, they observed a vehicle on the premises. The suspects inside the vehicle, upon seeing law enforcement, allegedly attempted to flee and opened fire on the team,” the police service announced in a statement. “The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded.”
“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack. Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”
Hatley told WVLT-TV that Sullivan and his family are back in the United States and he is encouraging people to continue to pray for the pastor.
“I said to someone that he may be the most prayed for man in America and prayed for man in the world because I mean a lot of God’s people have really prayed for him. I’m so thankful that the Lord answered our prayers and that he’s now safe. So, we just rejoice and thank the Lord,” Hatley said.
He added, “We’re still praying. I’ve emphasized to the people you know, even though we’re rejoicing, we don’t need to stop praying for the Sullivans because they went through a crisis here, and it’s going to take a little bit of time to rest and to get a reset.”
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