US pastor Josh Sullivan kidnapped during church service in South Africa

Police say four armed and masked men abducted the pastor in his car on Thursday evening.

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Josh Sullivan had been conducting a service at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberra in the Eastern Cape, on Thursday evening when "four armed and masked male suspects entered", police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge told the BBC.

The men stole two phones before fleeing the church in the 45-year-old pastor's silver Toyota Fortuner. Police later found the vehicle abandoned, but there was no trace of Mr Sullivan.

A spokesperson from the US State Department told the BBC that they were aware of the kidnapping of a US citizen in South Africa.

They said there was no "greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad".