An American pastor who was taken at gunpoint during a sermon in South Africa has been safely recovered following an intense police operation, according to local law enforcement officials.
American pastor found safe
Josh Sullivan, a missionary originally from Tennessee, was delivering a Thursday evening sermon at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a township on the outskirts of Gqeberha in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region.
In the middle of the service, four armed individuals stormed the church. They forcefully kidnapped Sullivan in front of his wife and their six children, creating panic among the congregation.
During the attack, members of the church were also robbed by the suspects as one of them pistol-whipped Sullivan and dragged him down the church aisle.
After the international headline-making abduction, South African authorities launched a search operation led by the Hawks, a unit within the South African Police Service that specializes in tackling serious crimes including organized crime and corruption.
The incident prompted rapid coordination between multiple agencies, as officials raced to locate Sullivan.
By Tuesday, investigators had tracked the suspects to a residence identified as a safe house. Officers moved in on the property, and a fatally violent confrontation unfolded.
The South African Police Service later provided a statement detailing what occurred when their teams approached the location.
Gunfight turned fatal during rescue of American pastor
“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 statement read.
The standoff escalated into a fierce gun battle. “The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shoot-out in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded,” the police added.
During the operation, Sullivan was discovered inside the vehicle. He was reportedly in “excellent condition” and showed no serious injuries, despite being pistol-whipped during his initial abduction.
Medical personnel later confirmed that the pastor was unharmed, and he was reunited with his family shortly after being rescued.
Investigators believe that the kidnapping of the American pastor was financially motivated. The gang responsible had issued ransom demands shortly after taking Sullivan. This development led to the formal involvement of the Hawks, given the case’s severity and possible ties to organized crime.
According to a police insider, Sullivan’s wife Meagan received a call the day following the abduction.
“Meagan got the call on Friday afternoon a day after the kidnap so the gang obviously had her mobile number and told her they had Josh,” the source said.
The caller laid out a grim ultimatum. “She was distraught and a friend who was with her took the phone and was told unless the family or church came up with what is a very large ransom it would not end well,” the source continued. “A time to raise the funds by was given and then the gang member hung up.”
Sullivan had been living in South Africa since 2018, having moved there with a mission to serve the Xhosa-speaking community.
He referred to himself as a “church planting missionary” and had planned to complete language studies before establishing a local church.
Following the rescue, Pastor Tom Hatley of the Fellowship Baptist Church, which is Sullivan’s home church in Tennessee, released a statement.
“Josh has been released. Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for the Sullivans,” he said.
Heather Shirley, the church’s secretary, also spoke to the Christian Post, attributing the outcome to divine protection.
“God was the one protecting him and taking care of him,” she remarked. “And that’s what we were praying for all along, that He would take care of him and bring him home.”
American woman sentenced for stabbing in Germany
In a separate case abroad, a young American woman who fatally stabbed a man in Germany was spared a prison sentence after the court deemed her a juvenile under local law at the time of the incident.
Fallyn Ball, now 21, had faced up to ten years behind bars after she stabbed and killed 64-year-old Alem Tekeste at Kaiserslautern Central Station on June 29.
Ball told investigators that she acted in self-defense after the man allegedly sexually harassed her on more than one occasion.
The Kaiserslautern Public Prosecutor’s Office described the altercation in a public statement. “According to the results of the investigations, the stabbing was preceded by the fact that the 64-year-old sexually harassed the 20-year-old by grabbing her buttocks, an exchange of words, and that the 20-year-old opened a folding knife she was carrying with her, so that she made stabbing movements in the direction of the 64-year-old.”
The confrontation quickly turned fatal. “The 64-year-old then grabbed the 20-year-old’s arm, which she was using to wield the knife,” the statement continued.
“The 20-year-old freed herself from this grip and stabbed once in the same movement,” the statement continued, noting that the man died “within a few seconds.”
Ball told authorities that she did not intend to strike the victim’s heart and claimed her actions were in self-defense. She was charged with bodily injury resulting in death.
“The accusation of bodily injury resulting in death requires intent only with regard to the bodily injury and (only) negligence with regard to the consequence of death,” the prosecutor’s office clarified.
While prosecutors had requested a sentence of 21 months, the court raised it to 24 months, classifying the crime as manslaughter.
The sentence was suspended, and Ball was ordered to complete 500 hours of community service and undergo drug rehabilitation.
