Wife of abducted missionary pleads for continued prayer

Missionary Josh Sullivan was taken at gunpoint Thursday evening, April 10, while delivering a sermon at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa (near Port Elizabeth, also known as Gqeberha).

His wife, Meagan, released a statement via Facebook and through other outlets on Friday, April 11, requesting continued prayer.

“We beg you to continue storming the throne room until Josh is safe at home,” she wrote.

More than 3,000 people have engaged with Meagan’s post, with more than 1,000 leaving comments and nearly 600 people sharing it as of Saturday mid-afternoon.

The Sullivans’ home church Pastor Tom Hatley — Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee — also posted a request this afternoon:

“Pastors, will you consider having prayer tomorrow for Missionary Josh Sullivan’s safe return?”

Sullivan and his family are members of Fellowship, and Sullivan has been on staff there since 2012. Other than their home church, The Baptist Paper was unable to identify any other organization or group that the family is working with at this time.

According to multiple media reports, four armed and masked men entered the church April 10 around 7 p.m. and abducted the 45-year-old pastor in his vehicle, later found abandoned nearby.

“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, the Associated Press reported. “They robbed two cell phones and then took [Sullivan] with them and fled the scene.”

Meagan and the couple’s six children are unharmed but were reportedly at the service. Various reports indicate the abduction may be financially motivated, consistent with a rising number of ransom-related kidnappings in the region, but that has not been confirmed.

The U.S. Embassy has reportedly acknowledged the incident and is monitoring developments, and CBS News reported earlier Saturday, that a spokesperson from the U.S. State Department told them “they were aware of the kidnapping of an American citizen in South Africa. The agency said it has no further information to share at this time.”

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This story appeared in The Baptist Paper.