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Fox News
13-05-2025
- Fox News
Tennessee pastor kidnapped at gunpoint in South Africa recalls 'miracle' that saved his life
Print Close By Audrey Conklin Published May 13, 2025 A Tennessee pastor who was kidnapped at gunpoint from his church in South Africa just before Easter is speaking out about his experience — and the miracle that saved his life. Joshua Sullivan, a 34-year-old Fellowship Baptist Church pastor and missionary working in Motherwell , was kidnapped by several armed, masked men who broke into his church in the Eastern Cape Province on the evening of April 10, took cellphones from parishioners and drove away with Sullivan in his own truck. "We do our prayer time before service, and… I got up to preach, and about one minute into the sermon, four masked gunmen entered the building. We originally thought, you know, South Africa is not the safest place. We've been robbed before. So, we originally thought they were just going to come in and take some phones. I preached from an iPad. I thought they were going to take it, but once he hit me over the head with his gun and then grabbed my wife, I knew something was different about this," Joshua said in an interview with Fox News' Madison Scrapino. The pastor recalled doing "whatever they wanted" him to do when they broke into his church, fearing they might kidnap his wife Meagan, too. AMERICAN PASTOR'S KIDNAPPING IN SOUTH AFRICA FUELED BY SOARING ARMED ROBBERY INCIDENTS IN RECENT YEARS "They got me up, and they took me into my own vehicle. They got the keys from my vehicle, put me in it. All four of those men and me were inside of that vehicle. He immediately started to tell me, 'So I know who you are. I know you're American. I know you have money, and we're going to kidnap you, and we're going to get,' he said, '5 million Rand,' which is about $260,000," Joshua said. "That's what they were wanting. And he asked if my car had a tracker device. I said yes. They were prepared for that." The kidnappers drove about a quarter mile down the road before transferring the pastor into a different vehicle. Then, they left that vehicle and got into a third one before driving about 20 minutes to another location. They forced him to put up his hood and keep his head down. AMERICAN PASTOR KIDNAPPED AT GUNPOINT IN SOUTH AFRICA RESCUED AFTER DEADLY POLICE SHOOTOUT The suspects took the pastor into the "very back bedroom" of a house, put him on a bed, tied his hands and kept him there for six days, Joshua said. There were three other men in the house with him, who soon realized they were "just babysitters" who didn't know who he was. "Two of the men were there the entire time, and one of them was evil to me, would say evil things to me," he recalled. "The other one was like the chef. I guess he would come in and ask me… what I wanted to eat, what I wanted to drink. You know, they kidnap me, they take me to the room, they tied me up. Twenty minutes later, he comes in and says, 'What you want for supper?' Like I don't want anything for supper. I didn't eat for the first two days." TRUMP ADMIN SECURES RELEASE OF AMERICAN MISSIONARY HELD IN TUNISIA FOR 13 MONTHS: REPORT Initially, the men thought Joshua was from the U.K., and he explained that he was an American pastor. "And I was able to tell them about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ… giving them the gospel. They had never heard that message before," he said. "And so the one individual was very interested. He had never heard that Jesus loved him or cared for him, and he was very interested in it, listened to everything I had to say. The second individual just listened to me, just to hear what I had to say and didn't really mind too much, but… at least I had the opportunity to do that." Meagan Sullivan described the six days her husband was gone as "torture." The couple and their six children, two of whom they adopted in South Africa, have lived in South Africa for seven years. They had both been robbed before and heard about kidnappings in the area where they live. "The police in South Africa are very desensitized to crime." — Meagan Sullivan "There's not a lot that they can do," Meagan said of the local police. "So, they were very nonchalant about the whole thing. And I was just so broken, and over the, the next few days, I just remember the Lord telling me to wait." Meagan said she had to focus on surrendering to God and comforting her children, adding later that the "worst part" of her experience was not hearing anything from police. "They were sobbing. They were terrified," she said of their kids, "but we prayed together. We gave it to the Lord and told him that we trust him." 'SLOWING THINGS DOWN' IS 'KEY' TO SAFE RETURN OF TENNESSEE PASTOR KIDNAPPED IN SOUTH AFRICA: RETIRED FBI AGENT The kidnappers contacted Meagan via WhatsApp for several days, demanding their ransom for his release. "I just crumbled to the ground when I was talking to them because… they said, '5 million ransom and you'll get your husband back.' … And they said cash. And I said, 'I don't have 5 million cash. Can you work with me?' And they said, 'You are not in any position to be making demands,'" she said. "And I said, 'OK, I'll get you your 5 million Rand, but it might take me a minute.' And so I was just really trying to figure out how I was going to make that happen." Six days into his kidnapping, Joshua experienced what he described as a "miracle." On April 16, the kidnappers moved Joshua into a vehicle. He didn't know where they were taking him but got the feeling they "had to get rid of" him. As they were taking him from the back bedroom of the house into a garage with his head covered, Joshua tripped on a step and fell down. He stood after a minute and then tripped on another step as the suspects tried to rush him out of the house and into a vehicle. Joshua could not see anything but sensed when they drove the vehicle out of the garage and sat in the driveway. 9 NIGERIAN STUDENTS KIDNAPPED AT GUNPOINT IN REGION'S LATEST SCHOOL ABDUCTION "While we're sitting in the driveway, the guys just jumped out of the car and began firing their weapons," he said. "Of course, I don't know what's going on. And then… [for] about five to seven minutes, I hear a gun battle. Nothing hits the car, nothing around the car. But I just hear guns going off, and I'm just laying back there praying. I didn't know what I should do. Should I run? Should I get out? I didn't know, so I just laid back there and prayed. Then I hear the battle is ended." He heard footsteps come toward the car and someone open one of the doors, and a man asked if he was "the American pastor," to which Joshua responded, 'Yes." "He takes my hood off my hood, and I see the police uniform, and he says, 'OK, we're the police.' And I just lost it. I just began crying and just, that's when the shock began. I just got thrown into shock. I just got on my hands and knees and praised the Lord. But the police were so surprised. They were in shock that I was in there," he said. Joshua later discovered that the police received a tip about a suspicious vehicle earlier that day. They went to chase down the lead to a different location, took a wrong turn and ended up in the driveway of the house where the pastor was being held captive to turn their vehicle around. It was then that the kidnapping suspects got out of the vehicle and began firing at the police. "It was is a sovereign hand of God. It was a miracle. It was a complete miracle." — Joshua Sullivan Three suspects died in the shootout with police. Joshua said the turn of events that led to his recovery was "undoubtedly a miracle." "Whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever, I know that doesn't matter. What happened to us, what happened to me, it was a miracle from God," he said. "The sovereign hand of God was on it because as we were speaking before the interview, things like this happen all the time… and in this case… what else could you say besides God performed a miracle in our lives? … I think he did it to show the world." Meagan said it was "horrifying" to watch their children "scream and cry and for their daddy," but they "got to see that faith isn't just something that mom and dad talk about." "They got to experience it because they saw God work a miracle in their own lives," she said. "They prayed, and God answered their prayer." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Sullivans said they both feel more strongly about their mission to teach Christianity in South Africa after Joshua's kidnapping. The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Africa said in a December 2024 report that the South African Police Service's (SAPS) annual crime statistics show kidnappings increased by 264% from 4,692 in 2014 and 2015 to 17,061 in 2023 and 2024. Most kidnapping incidents over the 2023-2024 time period "were perpetrated during aggravated robberies, such as car or truck hijackings or armed robberies at businesses, homes, or in public spaces," the ISS Africa report reads. Print Close URL
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
East Tennessee pastor recounts ‘miracle' rescue after kidnapping in South Africa
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — An East Tennessee pastor who was abducted at gunpoint from the pulpit in South Africa has returned home and is sharing his story of faith and how a 'miracle' unfolded after six days of being held captive. Josh Sullivan, 34, his wife Meagan and their six children have been living in South Africa's Eastern Cape providence, where they are church planting missionaries and lead a life on a mission to share the gospel. The Sullivans sat down with 6 News' Lori Tucker, saying that as they shared their story of Josh's kidnapping and rescue, they wanted to be intentional to keep the focus on the sovereign hand of God that got them through. The full interview can be watched at 7:30 p.m. on WATE6+. Report identifies teens who died after jumping from I-75 bridge in Loudon County On April 10, Josh Sullivan was preaching at a prayer meeting when four armed men broke into the Fellowship Baptist Church in the Motherwell Township. Meagan Sullivan recounted how many thoughts when through her mind in the first few moments, quickly shifting from excitement to see men coming to the church, which is mainly attended by women and children, to noticing that the men had firearms, and then again to the realization that they may be robbed soon. Josh Sullivan explained that the men came in a few minutes into the service. 'I assumed they all had guns, but we definitely saw two different guns because one came to me and one came to her. We originally thought they were going to rob us – that happens, unfortunately, a lot in our area – so I was prepared to give them my phone and iPad. But then once he hit me over the head with his gun, I knew this was not a normal robbery.' Josh Sullivan said. Josh Sullivan said his eyes went black for a moment, and he wondered what happened because he didn't see it coming. 'Then I heard my wife speaking to one of the other individuals, they were looking for the car keys to our vehicle, and then I was on the ground after that,' he recalled. Ultimately, the men took Josh Sullivan to a location where he was kept for 122 hours. He said the men who kidnapped him were seeking a ransom of 5 million rand, which is worth upwards of $250,000. The couple explained that kidnapping for ransoms in the region are something that seems to be frequent, a statement that aligns with a BBC's report that there has been a dramatic increase in kidnappings for ransom in South Africa over the past decade. Josh Sullivan recounted that the men who were keeping him offered him food and water frequently, but when it came to the phone calls they had him make for ransom money, they would say things to him to try to make him afraid. Throughout those six days, Josh Sullivan said it was hard to tell how much time was passing. He knew when the sun rose and set, but other than that, not much happened to show the passing of time. On the final day, he said there were mixed signals from the men on if he would be staying at the home another night or if they would be taking him to another location. That night, another man he had not seen before brought him his shoes and told him they were leaving. That night, Josh Sullivan described how he felt the hand of the Lord intervene. Before that point, the men had used the shoelaces from Josh Sullivan's shoes to bind his hands, so the shoelaces had to be put back into his shoes. Then, as they led him to the vehicle with his head covered, he said he tripped on multiple steps because he could not see where he was going. All these actions slowed down the process, which the men were attempting to make go as quickly as possible. Once they were finally in the vehicle, Josh Sullivan's head was in one of the men's laps when shots rang out. The South African Police Service previously said that a multi-disciplinary law enforcement operation, known as the Hawks, led by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation rescued Josh Sullivan. He explained that the officers who rescued him were actually going to a different location and made a wrong turn. That mistake led officers to the home he was being kept at, where the men who were holding him opened fire. The South African Police Service described what followed as a 'high-intensity shootout.' Once the gunfire ended, an officer checking the scene was surprised to find Josh Sullivan alive and asked if he was the American pastor that had been kidnapped. Hundreds evacuated, charges pending after gas leak in Maryville Sullivan described the events that led to his rescue as 'a miracle,' and 'the sovereign hand of God.' Within a few hours, Josh Sullivan was reunited with the rest of his family. The family had been moved to a safe house about an hour away, and Josh Sullivan added that both of his brothers-in-law travelled to South Africa to help look after his family. Meagan Sullivan said while her husband was kept captive, she wrote a letter of all the things he missed. She also said she heard from people in about 10 countries that they were praying for her family, and she knew there were thousands praying for them. Since his rescue, the family has returned to the United States to rest and recover, but both Josh and Meagan Sullivan said they feel they will go back to South Africa. Josh Sullivan explained they feel strongly that the gospel message needs to be shared in South Africa. Meagan Sullivan added that if she was asked years ago, she would not have believed she would such a strong love and calling to the people of South Africa, but when her husband is ready, they plan to return to their mission field and continue their life's work of helping save souls. Those interested in supporting the Sullivans can visit The family also shares prayer letters and more information about their work on their website, Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
