Pastor kidnapped in South Africa rescued after deadly shootout, reports say

Josh Sullivan, an American pastor and missionary who was kidnapped during a church service in South Africa last week, was rescued Thursday after a deadly shootout, authorities said. 

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in South Africa released a statement announcing that an operation led by the agency "resulted in the successful rescue" of an American pastor who was kidnapped, according to Fox News Digital. 

Kidnapped pastor rescued in South Africa

What we know:

Police in South Africa didn’t name 34-year-old Sullivan in their announcement, but Tom Hatley, a pastor at Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, confirmed it was Sullivan who was rescued. 

Police found Sullivan in a safe house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha, where they engaged in a shootout with suspects inside a car when they arrived. The suspects inside the car had tried to flee the home before the "high-intensity" shooting took place. 

Three of the suspects were killed in the shootout, but Sullivan was "miraculously unharmed." Police say he’s in "excellent condition."

What we don't know:

It’s unclear why Sullivan was kidnapped – other news outlets say the kidnappers didn’t ask for ransom. 

What they're saying:

"Josh has been released," Hatley said in a post on Facebook. "I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known’. SA media has started broadcasting. American media will follow. Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for The Sullivans. Praise The Lord Jesus Christ!" 

Who is Josh Sullivan? 

Sullivan, 45, was a pastor in Maryville, Tennessee, before moving with his wife and children to South Africa in 2018, according to his website. 

Sullivan described himself on his website as a "church planting missionary to the country of South Africa."

"We are looking to finish language school soon and plant a church to the Xhosa speaking people," he wrote on the site. 

What happened to Josh Sullivan?

The backstory:

According to BBC, Sullivan was conducting a service with about 30 other people at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell on the Eastern Cape Thursday evening when  "four armed and masked male suspects entered," a police spokesman said. 

The family’s spokesperson Jeremy Hall told a local newspaper that Sullivan’s wife and children were also at the church when the kidnapping took place, but they were able to escape unharmed.

"They knew his name," Hall said, according to TimesLive. 

"The men came into the church and initially held Meagan and walked her towards the door before saying, ‘Josh, is this your wife?’ They then pushed her to the ground and took Josh before driving off in his vehicle."

"I know he’s doing God’s work, and I also know he wouldn’t change that," his mother, Tonya Morton Rinker, said on Facebook. 

Dig deeper:

Kidnappings are surging in South Africa, with more than 17,000 kidnappings reported last year. That’s up from 4,692 a decade ago. They’re primarily linked to armed robberies, according to the Institute for Security Studies.