The American priest was kidnapped at gunpoint while presenting a sermon in South Africa: “They knew him by name.”

Police and his colleague said on Friday that the militants in South Africa kidnapped an American missionary from his church while he was delivering a sermon.

A fellow of Agence France Presse said that Reverend Josh Sullivan was kidnapped late Thursday in the Baptist Church of Fellowship in Awladwell outside the coastal city of GQEBerha, while it appeared to be kidnapped for ransom.

The kidnappings, including criminal gangs targeting people who can seek a large ransom, have increased in South Africa in recent years.

“While a sermon was conducted in the church, four armed male suspects and fighters entered the church,” the police said in a statement. “They stole two local phones, then they took the 45 -year -old male priest with them and fled from the scene.”

US State Department spokesman BBC said They were aware of the kidnapping of an American citizen in South Africa.

Reverend Jeremy Hall, also the priest in the southeastern city, told AFP that the kidnapping may have been “financially linked.”

Hall said that Sullivan was holding a prayer for about 30 people, including his wife and six children, when the gunmen entered.

“They knew him by name,” he said. They took him at gunpoint, forced him to his car and went. The abandoned car was recovered about a mile from the church.

Sullivan arrived in South Africa with his family from Tennessee in November 2018, according to it His personal site.

“We look forward to ending the language school soon and planting a church for people who speak xosa,” he writes on his site.

Sullivan has been working in the Church of the Baptist Fellowship in Marifel, Tennessee, since February 2012, according to the site.

“Please pray for Josh Sullivan, missionary to South Africa,” the church wrote on its Facebook page.

Please pray for Josh Sullivan, missionary to South Africa. He was kidnapped at a six -man rifle during the church service this evening. Note: All comments will be deleted other than the prayers.

Posted by Fellowship of the Baptist Church on Thursday, April 10, 2025

The Ghanning Control Police Unit said that a Chinese citizen was also kidnapped on Tuesday in the city, which is in the Indian Ocean and about 570 miles southeast of Johannesburg.

There were more than 17,000 kidnappings in South Africa in the fiscal year 2023-2024, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year, according to police statistics.

South Africa was also afflicted with the escalation of armed violence. Every day, 33 people are killed by guns in South Africa South Africa is free of weaponsIt is a non -profit organization that defends the decrease in armed violence.