Kidnapped US missionary Josh Sullivan rescued ‘miraculously unharmed’ after shootout left 3 dead
April 17, 2025
A missionary from Tennessee who was kidnapped from his South Africa church has been freed and is “miraculously unharmed” following an intense shootout with police that left 3 of his kidnappers dead.
The Christian Post reports that Josh Sullivan was kidnapped by a group of armed men from his Motherwell, South Africa on April 10 during a sermon.
The shootout took place five days later at a safe house where Sullivan was being held according to a statement from the South African Police Service.
According to the police statement, “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 officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded.”
Sullivan’s kidnapping set in motion a global prayer rally beginning with his home church, Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee.
Pastor Tom Hatley, in a Facebook post, urged his followers to continue to pray for Sullivan and his family, saying, “Josh has been released. I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known,’ Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for The Sullivans. Praise The Lord Jesus Christ!”
According to the Christian Post, the Fellowship Baptist Church had previously stated that Sullivan and his wife Meagan first traveled to South Africa in 2015 for a six month internship.
The church reported that “It was during this time that the Lord began to stir their hearts specifically for the Xhosa people. They returned in 2018 as full-time church planting missionaries, determined to share the Gospel, and see lives changed.”
Sullivan attended two years of language school to become fluent in Xhosa “so he could preach, disciple, and minister more effectively,” the church stated in a bio.
Photo: top, Credit: Facebook/Tom Hatley