Josh Sullivan, Tennessee missionary who was kidnapped in South Africa, returns to work
September 2, 2025
The Tennessee man who was kidnapped by armed men while performing missionary work in South Africa earlier this year, has resumed his ministry in that country in what may be a permanent return to his work.
The Christian Post reports that Josh Sullivan, who was kidnapped and held hostage for six days in April, revealed in a ministry update that he and his family returned to South Africa as part of a pre-planned mission retreat in Thailand.
Sullivan was rescued from his kidnappers in a “high-intensity shootout” that left three of his captors dead while Sullivan remained miraculously unharmed.
In his update, Sullivan stated, “Our family has spent the last two months traveling. Before the kidnapping in April, we had planned a family trip to Thailand to attend a mission’s retreat. We decided not to let that trip go to waste. So at the beginning of July, we headed back to South Africa for a couple of weeks, and then on to Thailand.”
Sullivan added, “Our trip to South Africa was very healing. We spent time encouraging our people and being encouraged by their faithfulness. While we were there, our church was able to host its first funeral. This is obviously not a happy circumstance, but we rejoiced in the opportunity to share the Gospel with this lost family.”
On April 10, while Sullivan was serving as a missionary at his Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, near Gqeberha, he was kidnapped by four armed men who held him captive while demanding an undisclosed ransom.
South African police rescued Sullivan five days later in a deadly shootout that left three suspects dead.
According to the Christian Post, Sullivan is still recovering from trauma and that the church in South Africa has since updated its security.
Sullivan noted, “We do have gates and things on our door, but we’ve always left them open during church time to kind of have an open policy so people can come in or come in late. That’s changed. We lock the gates during service time now.”
Photo: top, Credit: Facebook/Tom Hatley