American missionary Josh Sullivan, who was rescued by police April 16 after being kidnapped in South Africa, posted his first statement since the ordeal over Easter weekend.

Sullivan, 45, expressed appreciation to “God for delivering me from what was undoubtedly the worst experience of our life.”

“I also want to thank him for delivering me from my sin 28 years ago when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Because of my personal relationship with Jesus, He gave me the peace I needed to get through.”

He expressed thanks for the many who prayed for him, the support from his family and friends, and those who risked their lives to rescue him.

Dramatic rescue

The missionary and pastor from Tennessee is back with his wife and children following a dramatic rescue that ended in a deadly shootout between police and his kidnappers.

Sullivan had been abducted at gunpoint while preaching a sermon on April 10 at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. Less than a week later, authorities — working from a tip — reportedly located the kidnapped missionary, who was being kept in a house. As police approached the area, suspects in a parked vehicle opened fire and attempted to flee, prompting an intense exchange of bullets that resulted in the deaths of three unidentified kidnappers, according to multiple media reports. The missionary was found inside the vehicle unharmed.

Sullivan has served as a church planter in South Africa since moving his family there in 2018. The family’s home church is Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee, where Sullivan has been on staff.

See Sullivan’s full statement below:

I want to begin by thanking God for delivering me from what was undoubtedly the worst experience of our life. I also want to thank him for delivering me from my sin 28 years ago when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Because of my personal relationship with Jesus, He gave me the peace I needed to get through.

I am deeply grateful to the thousands of people who prayed for me while I was in captivity. It was because of these prayers that God performed a miracle a few nights ago.

I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the South African Police Department, HAWKS, FBI, DSS special agents, and my dear friend, Jeremy Hall, whose efforts were instrumental in locating me.

I am especially thankful for my wife, Meagan, whose strength and resilience made her the strongest woman in the world last week. As we begin the difficult process of healing and moving forward, we kindly ask for privacy during this time. I have a miraculous story to share, and I look forward to telling it when the time is right.

With sincere gratitude, Josh Sullivan