A U.S. missionary, Pastor Josh Sullivan, was kidnapped by armed men during a church service on Thursday night in South Africa.
The incident happened at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, near the coastal city of Gqeberha.
According to police, four masked men entered the church while Pastor Sullivan was preaching.
They stole two mobile phones and then forced the 45-year-old pastor into his own car at gunpoint.
His car was later found abandoned less than a mile from the church.
Reverend Jeremy Hall, a fellow pastor in the area, said the attack seemed financially motivated.
Sullivan was leading a prayer meeting with about 30 people, including his wife and six children, when the kidnapping took place.
The attackers appeared to know who he was.
Pastor Sullivan and his family moved from Tennessee to South Africa in 2018.
The police believe this kidnapping could be part of a wider trend, as the country has seen a rise in abductions for ransom by criminal gangs.
Just days before, a Chinese national was also kidnapped in the same city.
