Gunmen in South Africa have abducted an American missionary in the middle of a sermon, sparking outrage and concerns over the country’s growing kidnapping crisis.

Pastor Josh Sullivan was seized late Thursday night, April 10 while preaching at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a township on the outskirts of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). According to police and a colleague, the incident appears to be a ransom-related kidnapping.

In a statement released on Friday, police said: “It is alleged that while a sermon was being conducted at the church, four armed and masked male suspects entered the building. They robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old male pastor and fleeing the scene.”

Reverend Jeremy Hall, a fellow pastor in Gqeberha, told AFP the kidnapping was likely financially motivated. “They knew him by name,” he said. Sullivan was reportedly leading a prayer meeting attended by about 30 people, including his wife and six children, when the attackers struck.

The assailants forced Sullivan into his own vehicle and drove off. The car was later found abandoned approximately 1.5 kilometers (less than a mile) from the church.

Sullivan, originally from Tennessee, arrived in South Africa with his family in November 2018, according to information on his personal website.

The incident is one of several recent abductions in the region. Earlier in the week, a Chinese national was also kidnapped in Gqeberha, a city along the Indian Ocean roughly 920 kilometers (570 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.

South Africa has seen a sharp rise in kidnappings in recent years. Police statistics show over 17,000 reported cases in the 2023/2024 financial year—an 11 percent increase from the previous year. Many of these incidents are attributed to organized criminal gangs targeting individuals for ransom.

Authorities say investigations are ongoing, and efforts to safely recover Pastor Sullivan are underway.

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