Four men broke into the Fellowship Baptist church in Motherwell Township last week, stole two cellphones from members of the congregation and took away the pastor in his own truck.
Media reports named the pastor as Josh Sullivan of Tennessee, but police would not confirm the identification.
According to the Fellowship Baptist Church blog, Sullivan, who described himself as a “church-planting missionary,” his wife Meagan and two children arrived in South Africa in November 2018 to run the Motherwell branch.
An image showing Sullivan preaching behind a pulpit was uploaded on X by a user going by the name of Tom Hatley. Sullivan identifies a man with the same name as his childhood and training pastor on his own blog. Hatley claimed that he was posting on Sullivan’s wife’s behalf and prayed for a safe return.
A Maryville, Tennessee woman by the name Tonya Rinker, who lists Sullivan as her son in her profile, said the American embassy in South Africa was working on finding him.
Police say no ransom has been demanded as of late last week.
As they await Sullivan’s safe return, supporters flocked to the pastor’s personal blog site and other social media platforms to offer their well-wishes.
One post called Sullivan a “faithful brother doing much to make Christ known in Africa.”