June 9, 2025 • 17 mins
In this powerful episode of Miracles in the News, we share the incredible true story of Pastor Joshua Sullivan, a missionary from Tennessee who was kidnapped at gunpoint during a church service in South Africa—while his wife and six children looked on. As his family turned to prayer, Josh was taken to a secret location and held hostage for six days. What happened next is nothing short of miraculous. This episode is a testimony of faith, divine timing, and the power of forgiveness. Plus, we share a hilarious (and humbling) story from our childhood that reminds us why grace always wins.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the gunmen actually stole Josh's keys, took him out
to his own truck, they put a hood over his
head and just took off with him.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Miracles in the News.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome back to Miracles in the News. You may have
already heard of this story because it has been in
the headlines, but it's an amazing one. So let me
give you some context. Okay, Imagine that you're a pastor.
You're standing at a pulpit ready to deliver a sermon,
Your wife and your six kids are sitting in the congregation,
and suddenly four masked gunmen charge into your church. That
(00:37):
will be terrifying, right, And this is what actually happened
to Josh Sullivan. He and his wife were Baptist missionaries
from Tennessee that were serving in South Africa with their kids.
When these gunmen came into their church. Josh thought at
first that they were just going to rob them, because
that happens quite a bit in South Africa. But one
(01:00):
of the gunmen actually hit Josh over the head with
a gun and that's when things really began to escalate.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Thirty four year old Joshua Sullivan is a pastor from Tennessee,
who's been living in South Africa with his wife and children.
Last week, four armed men and masks stormed his church,
took cell phones from congregants, and drove away with Sullivan
in his own truck.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah. So the gunman stole Josh's keys, took him out
to his truck, put a hood over his head, and
drove off with him. And so here's what Josh's wife,
Megan said.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I can't even tell you all the different thoughts I
had in my head. But when they did take Josh
and I saw my kids crying and screaming, it took
me about two seconds and then I just started screaming
at everybody like pray. What are you guys doing? Like,
just start praying? And then we kind of just snapped
(01:55):
into action.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
So interesting that first pray, yeah, and then snap an
action Because for me, I'm like, I probably would just
run out the door and try to chase them down.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I don't know what I would do in this situation,
but yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
You guys had guns, and the people in the church
definitely didn't have guns.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So that's true. What are you gonna do?
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I mean, And they just took Josh so fast, like
they just took off with him. So I really don't
think there was anything else they could do except for prey. Yeah,
that's true, And I can't imagine what she was going through, Like, no,
how do you comfort your kids at that time and
be like your dad was just kidnapped.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I know, obviously she is hurting and worried and stressed,
but like, you can't just check out. I would want
to go fall in a hole, insame, cover my head
with a blanket and just cry.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
But as a mom, you can't just check out.
Speaker 6 (02:44):
No.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
In fact, she she like knelt with her kids. They
would pray together, and she said it was really a
hard time because she was struggling between like trying to
be strong and have faith and also just worrying sick
about her husband. But the prayers started pouring in from
all over the world, you know, the news spread fast
about this and people just started praying everywhere. And meanwhile,
(03:09):
Josh had been taken to this house like who knows where,
and was being held prisoner in a back bedroom.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
He says they tied him up, then took him to
a room where he sat and prayed for six days.
Speaker 6 (03:22):
It was a different kind of prayer, you know, I
mean it was praying for my life. As I said,
I felt peace, but still the fear is just the
constantly I would ask God, can I have that peace again?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Oh my gosh, what did these guys be and want
with him?
Speaker 6 (03:37):
Like?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Why are they holding him? What's happening?
Speaker 6 (03:39):
Well?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
The kidnappers messaged Megan and on WhatsApp actually, and they
were demanding five million rand, which equates to over a
quarter of a million US dollars.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Why are these guys, like why did they pick them?
Are these guys super wealthy? Like I mean most people
probably wouldn't have a quarter of dollars in the back right.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
No, No, these guys were not wealthy. They were missionaries
and they didn't have that kind of money. And during
that time, even though Josh was uncomfortable and terrified, he
says he did share something unexpected with his captors. He
actually shared his faith.
Speaker 6 (04:16):
I was able to tell them about the death and
Barah resurrection Jesus Christ, you know why I'm here, given
them the gospel. They had never heard that message before.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Wow, that's like a true show of faith.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
I mean, what courage and faith and character like a
true testa character It reminds me of our story about
Bob Meek where he was a captive in Mexico and
then he did the same thing, like he shared the
Gospel of Christ with these people.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Who were his characters.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
I mean it really it shows you that he is
truly converted.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah. Yeah, when you're in a life and death situation. Yeah,
And I think it can really show where your priorities
are at and how strong your first faith. And I
love that Josh was testifying and teaching his kidnappers.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It is amazing. And unfortunately Megan back at home was
like going through an absolute nightmare, and the kidnappers kept
messaging her and demanding the money, and she told them,
I don't have the money. Can you give me more time?
And they were like, nope, you're not in a position
to negotiate with us. We want the money.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Now. How was she going to get the money? She
just like, well, she.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Didn't have it, so no, she didn't really have a plan,
so she just contained to pray while she was trying
to figure it out. While she was trying to and
she wasn't even sure, like you know, the police were
not sure if she should even pay them money for,
you know, because that could make it worse. So while
she was trying to figure it out, six days went
by and things got really crazy. And I'll read what
(05:52):
Josh says happened next, Oh my gosh quote. They moved
me into a car. I didn't know where we were going.
I had this sinking feeling maybe they were planning to
kill me. I couldn't see anything. My head was covered.
I tripped over a step, got up, tripped again. Then
they rushed me into a vehicle, pulled out of the garage,
(06:15):
and then I hear gunfire non stop. Oh my gosh,
for five to seven minutes. I just lay there praying.
I thought, do I run, do I hide? I couldn't
see a thing.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
And She's like when you're watching a movie and you
get to this point where like everything is stacked up
against them, Yeah, and there's no way out there trapped.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
It's like, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, seriously, And then the gunshots just stopped, and Josh
heard footsteps and a car door opened, and suddenly a
man pulled the hood off of his head.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
Is said, are you the American pastor? I said, yes,
I am, And I like to them, was are you
the police? You know, his uniform said police and all that.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
But I was still like.
Speaker 6 (07:05):
You know, is this a good guy or a bad guy?
And I didn't want to get out of the car
because I was just I was just scared. I guess
he said it's okay on the police, it's okay, it's okay.
And he put his gun down and SAIDs okay, and
he pulled me on the car and hugged me. I
began to cry, you know, and he was, well, he
was trying to calm me down when I just got
in my hands to Day's and just praised the Lord,
(07:25):
just thank the Lord and prayed.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So how did the police find him?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Okay, you're not going to believe this. So this is
where it gets even more incredible. It turns out the
police found Josh by mistake. They had been hitting somewhere
completely unrelated. It took a wrong turn and they ended
up in the very driveway. They were just gonna like,
back up in the driveway, turn around, Oh my gosh,
(07:53):
and that's where Josh was being held captive, and the
kidnappers panicked and opened fire. The police fired back. Three
of the suspects were killed, and yet despite all of
the gunfire, Josh was fine and he ended up being saved.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Okay, I want to know more about like the police,
Like why were they there, how did they take this
wrong turn?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
What were they doing there in the first place.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Okay, So the police had gotten a tip about a
suspicious vehicle and they were out looking for that, but
that wasn't related to Josh's disappearance at all. It was
a completely different thing. And they were heading out to
try and find his vehicle and they literally just made
a wrong turn.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So they went to turn around in the driveway where
Josh was being held captive. I mean, it's just wow.
It is the divine intervention.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Obviously more than just a coincidence that they had to
be there.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, that is amazing. I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I know. And Josh says that he's just been telling
everyone that God deserves the credit for this, Like, yeah,
people get kidnapped South Africa a lot, but for things
to work out the way they did, I mean, how
do you deny that God was involved in this?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
You can't. I mean, obviously he sent them there.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, it wasn't a mistake, No, even here's another kind
of crazy cool part of this. Even Josh tripping on
the way out played a part in the timing of
his rescue.
Speaker 6 (09:26):
So if I hadn't a fail, if that busted my knee,
if that hadn't changed their mind, if that hadn't took
so long cleaning and wiping down the room, if I
had a trip the second trip the second time, if
the guy had opened the garage door a little bit quicker.
I mean, who knows. It's a sovereign of God. They
pulled into the driveway at the moment the moment I
(09:47):
was pulling out.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Yeah, the timing of everything is what's so crazy, right,
because like, if he had, like anything, anyone of those
things had changed, the police wouldn't have been there too
early or too late. It's just it's amazing how God works.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
It is And even though this family has survived like
one of the scariest experiences imaginable, they say they feel
more committed than ever to their mission in South Africa,
and they're going to spend a little bit of time
in Tennessee just kind of healing emotionally from the experience,
but they want to go back as soon as possible.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
It's like, you know what you did your service, You're good.
But the fact that they want to go back is
so inspiring. Like these people are truly converted. They are,
and they also just love the people of South Africa.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
They said that that is their home now and they've
raised their children there, and they also said that they
understand that the poverty there and a lot of the
circumstances there are a big part of why there's so
much violence that happens. And they said they, yeah, they are,
and they said they've already forgiven their captors. So I
(10:57):
thought that was pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeow wow.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I'm always inspired when people have these horrible things happen
to them and they choose to forgive. Y. I mean, like,
I know, there are times in our lives where so
inspiring cruel and people are mean, and it's so much
harder to do than it sounds.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, And I mean, forgiveness is tough, like it really is.
And I have to say I am not the best
example of that. Sometimes it's hard. It's hard to forgive.
And I'm actually thinking back to times when I have
been an example and uh, yeah, do you remember the
poop cookies Emily?
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Oh, my gosh, we do not need to share that
story on our product.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Oh I've brought it up now, so now we have to.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Oh my gosh, our listeners will never think of us
the same.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
They won't, but this is us. So whatever I do?
You want to tell the story? Do you want you
want me to tell it?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Okay, I guess we're going there, We're going there. We're
all well.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
So we have another sister. Her name's Julie. We've mentioned
her before.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Oh wait, do we want to give a warning first, like, kids,
if you're listening to this, please don't do this.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
This is not an idea. Don't get any ideas from this.
This is not good examples.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
This is like a story about what not to do.
So let's just we're just gonna put that out there first. Okay,
So we have a sister. Her name is Julie. We've
mentioned her multiple times in the podcast. When she was
in middle school, she was bullied and there was this
one girl who was especially mean to her.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
She was and was always just picking on her. And
one day this girl invited Julie to a party and
we're like, oh, maybe she's finally being nice. Maybe she's
finally gonna include Julie. When Julie gets there, there are
a bunch of kids who are all standing there with
water guns and buckets of water, and they just soak her.
(12:59):
She comes home and here is We're so frustrated that
this was all so mean. She's awful anyway, so we
wanted to do something about it. Yes, and right at this,
I'm like a kid, Hollie. You were like you were,
You were like I was still older. You were like
(13:20):
an adult. All it gives me this terrible idea.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I gave you an assignment.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
So what we do? This is so gross that we
put on some rubber gloves.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I gave you gloves. At least I didn't tell you
guys did this? You and your friend?
Speaker 5 (13:37):
So my friend and I put on some rubber gloves.
We went over to my friend's house and we collected
some of her dog's oop. We rolled it into balls
and rolled.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Sugar. Yes, they looked like chocolate.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
They looked really quite delicious if you didn't know what
they were.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Put a little nice bow on it. We wrote a
little card.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Some saran wrap over the plate from your secret admirer.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
We go to this girl's house, leave it on the doorstep,
bring the doorbell and run run, And fortunately for her,
our mother intervened. When you told Mom, I think you
had a conscience.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
A lot, I felt a little guilty.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
She made us go get it off the doorstep, and
at the.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Time I was like, oh my gosh, this girl deserves it.
She deserves the poop cookies. And I was so mad.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
But I know, but we did.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
She is very lucky she wasn't home when we let
the door bell, Like, yes, probably a miracle for her, yes,
But we went and grabbed the plate of cookies. We
never actually gave them to her, she never made them or.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Anything, but no, and we learned it it.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
We learned a big lesson from that, right, I mean,
I know I did. Like Mom talked to us about
how that was not the best way to handle things,
talk to us about forgivingness.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
Oh yeah, we talked about how like is that going
to accomplish anything? Like it was kind of funny. But
if we had done that, It's not like this girl
would have all of a sudden been kinder to our sister.
It's not like she would have been sorry. It's not
like anything good would have come from it.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Mom's totally right.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
The best thing we could do in that situation is
recognize this girl was probably going through a hard time herself.
She was probably struggling with her own things. And our
sister Julie turned out great. Everything turned out fine. But
we really did learn a lesson that. Yeah, forgiveness is better.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Than forgiveness is better than revenge.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Yes, it's not easy, but it is.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
No, No, it's not easy. I think it's something we
all struggle with and all have to work on. And
back to the story. I mean, Josh was such a
great example of this, his whole family was, and I
loved what Josh said about forgiveness.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
How could I not forgive? With all that I've done
against God and He still uses me, you know, how
could I not forgive those that wanted to harm us?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
It is such a good perspective because none of us
are perfect.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
We all make mistakes.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
And yeah, obviously I've made my fair share of mistakes,
including telling my little sister to make poop cookies, but
I am perfect.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I really just believe that when we realize how much
grace God has for us, then we can have a
lot more grace for others. And I think our mom
taught us that that day, and the Sullivan family is
such a great example of that.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
Whether you're a believer non believer, none of that doesn't matter.
What happened to us, what happened to me, it was
a miracle from God.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I just want to thank everyone for joining us today
because this is such an amazing story and we hope
that this story has brightened your day. Thank you for
joining us. If you have a miracle to share, contact
us at the Miracle files dot com or find us
on Facebook.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
We're now releasing multiple episodes each month, so subscribe on
your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content
as well.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles,
and don't forget to look for his light in your
own lives.
So the gunmen actually stole Josh's keys, took him out
to his own truck, they put a hood over his
head and just took off with him.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Miracles in the News.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome back to Miracles in the News. You may have
already heard of this story because it has been in
the headlines, but it's an amazing one. So let me
give you some context. Okay, Imagine that you're a pastor.
You're standing at a pulpit ready to deliver a sermon,
Your wife and your six kids are sitting in the congregation,
and suddenly four masked gunmen charge into your church. That
(00:37):
will be terrifying, right, And this is what actually happened
to Josh Sullivan. He and his wife were Baptist missionaries
from Tennessee that were serving in South Africa with their kids.
When these gunmen came into their church. Josh thought at
first that they were just going to rob them, because
that happens quite a bit in South Africa. But one
(01:00):
of the gunmen actually hit Josh over the head with
a gun and that's when things really began to escalate.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Thirty four year old Joshua Sullivan is a pastor from Tennessee,
who's been living in South Africa with his wife and children.
Last week, four armed men and masks stormed his church,
took cell phones from congregants, and drove away with Sullivan
in his own truck.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah. So the gunman stole Josh's keys, took him out
to his truck, put a hood over his head, and
drove off with him. And so here's what Josh's wife,
Megan said.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I can't even tell you all the different thoughts I
had in my head. But when they did take Josh
and I saw my kids crying and screaming, it took
me about two seconds and then I just started screaming
at everybody like pray. What are you guys doing? Like,
just start praying? And then we kind of just snapped
(01:55):
into action.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
So interesting that first pray, yeah, and then snap an
action Because for me, I'm like, I probably would just
run out the door and try to chase them down.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I don't know what I would do in this situation,
but yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
You guys had guns, and the people in the church
definitely didn't have guns.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So that's true. What are you gonna do?
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I mean, And they just took Josh so fast, like
they just took off with him. So I really don't
think there was anything else they could do except for prey. Yeah,
that's true, And I can't imagine what she was going through, Like, no,
how do you comfort your kids at that time and
be like your dad was just kidnapped.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I know, obviously she is hurting and worried and stressed,
but like, you can't just check out. I would want
to go fall in a hole, insame, cover my head
with a blanket and just cry.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
But as a mom, you can't just check out.
Speaker 6 (02:44):
No.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
In fact, she she like knelt with her kids. They
would pray together, and she said it was really a
hard time because she was struggling between like trying to
be strong and have faith and also just worrying sick
about her husband. But the prayers started pouring in from
all over the world, you know, the news spread fast
about this and people just started praying everywhere. And meanwhile,
(03:09):
Josh had been taken to this house like who knows where,
and was being held prisoner in a back bedroom.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
He says they tied him up, then took him to
a room where he sat and prayed for six days.
Speaker 6 (03:22):
It was a different kind of prayer, you know, I
mean it was praying for my life. As I said,
I felt peace, but still the fear is just the
constantly I would ask God, can I have that peace again?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Oh my gosh, what did these guys be and want
with him?
Speaker 6 (03:37):
Like?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Why are they holding him? What's happening?
Speaker 6 (03:39):
Well?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
The kidnappers messaged Megan and on WhatsApp actually, and they
were demanding five million rand, which equates to over a
quarter of a million US dollars.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Why are these guys, like why did they pick them?
Are these guys super wealthy? Like I mean most people
probably wouldn't have a quarter of dollars in the back right.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
No, No, these guys were not wealthy. They were missionaries
and they didn't have that kind of money. And during
that time, even though Josh was uncomfortable and terrified, he
says he did share something unexpected with his captors. He
actually shared his faith.
Speaker 6 (04:16):
I was able to tell them about the death and
Barah resurrection Jesus Christ, you know why I'm here, given
them the gospel. They had never heard that message before.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Wow, that's like a true show of faith.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
I mean, what courage and faith and character like a
true testa character It reminds me of our story about
Bob Meek where he was a captive in Mexico and
then he did the same thing, like he shared the
Gospel of Christ with these people.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Who were his characters.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
I mean it really it shows you that he is
truly converted.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah. Yeah, when you're in a life and death situation. Yeah,
And I think it can really show where your priorities
are at and how strong your first faith. And I
love that Josh was testifying and teaching his kidnappers.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It is amazing. And unfortunately Megan back at home was
like going through an absolute nightmare, and the kidnappers kept
messaging her and demanding the money, and she told them,
I don't have the money. Can you give me more time?
And they were like, nope, you're not in a position
to negotiate with us. We want the money.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Now. How was she going to get the money? She
just like, well, she.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Didn't have it, so no, she didn't really have a plan,
so she just contained to pray while she was trying
to figure it out. While she was trying to and
she wasn't even sure, like you know, the police were
not sure if she should even pay them money for,
you know, because that could make it worse. So while
she was trying to figure it out, six days went
by and things got really crazy. And I'll read what
(05:52):
Josh says happened next, Oh my gosh quote. They moved
me into a car. I didn't know where we were going.
I had this sinking feeling maybe they were planning to
kill me. I couldn't see anything. My head was covered.
I tripped over a step, got up, tripped again. Then
they rushed me into a vehicle, pulled out of the garage,
(06:15):
and then I hear gunfire non stop. Oh my gosh,
for five to seven minutes. I just lay there praying.
I thought, do I run, do I hide? I couldn't
see a thing.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
And She's like when you're watching a movie and you
get to this point where like everything is stacked up
against them, Yeah, and there's no way out there trapped.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
It's like, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, seriously, And then the gunshots just stopped, and Josh
heard footsteps and a car door opened, and suddenly a
man pulled the hood off of his head.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
Is said, are you the American pastor? I said, yes,
I am, And I like to them, was are you
the police? You know, his uniform said police and all that.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
But I was still like.
Speaker 6 (07:05):
You know, is this a good guy or a bad guy?
And I didn't want to get out of the car
because I was just I was just scared. I guess
he said it's okay on the police, it's okay, it's okay.
And he put his gun down and SAIDs okay, and
he pulled me on the car and hugged me. I
began to cry, you know, and he was, well, he
was trying to calm me down when I just got
in my hands to Day's and just praised the Lord,
(07:25):
just thank the Lord and prayed.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So how did the police find him?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Okay, you're not going to believe this. So this is
where it gets even more incredible. It turns out the
police found Josh by mistake. They had been hitting somewhere
completely unrelated. It took a wrong turn and they ended
up in the very driveway. They were just gonna like,
back up in the driveway, turn around, Oh my gosh,
(07:53):
and that's where Josh was being held captive, and the
kidnappers panicked and opened fire. The police fired back. Three
of the suspects were killed, and yet despite all of
the gunfire, Josh was fine and he ended up being saved.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Okay, I want to know more about like the police,
Like why were they there, how did they take this
wrong turn?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
What were they doing there in the first place.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Okay, So the police had gotten a tip about a
suspicious vehicle and they were out looking for that, but
that wasn't related to Josh's disappearance at all. It was
a completely different thing. And they were heading out to
try and find his vehicle and they literally just made
a wrong turn.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So they went to turn around in the driveway where
Josh was being held captive. I mean, it's just wow.
It is the divine intervention.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Obviously more than just a coincidence that they had to
be there.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, that is amazing. I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I know. And Josh says that he's just been telling
everyone that God deserves the credit for this, Like, yeah,
people get kidnapped South Africa a lot, but for things
to work out the way they did, I mean, how
do you deny that God was involved in this?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
You can't. I mean, obviously he sent them there.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, it wasn't a mistake, No, even here's another kind
of crazy cool part of this. Even Josh tripping on
the way out played a part in the timing of
his rescue.
Speaker 6 (09:26):
So if I hadn't a fail, if that busted my knee,
if that hadn't changed their mind, if that hadn't took
so long cleaning and wiping down the room, if I
had a trip the second trip the second time, if
the guy had opened the garage door a little bit quicker.
I mean, who knows. It's a sovereign of God. They
pulled into the driveway at the moment the moment I
(09:47):
was pulling out.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Yeah, the timing of everything is what's so crazy, right,
because like, if he had, like anything, anyone of those
things had changed, the police wouldn't have been there too
early or too late. It's just it's amazing how God works.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
It is And even though this family has survived like
one of the scariest experiences imaginable, they say they feel
more committed than ever to their mission in South Africa,
and they're going to spend a little bit of time
in Tennessee just kind of healing emotionally from the experience,
but they want to go back as soon as possible.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
It's like, you know what you did your service, You're good.
But the fact that they want to go back is
so inspiring. Like these people are truly converted. They are,
and they also just love the people of South Africa.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
They said that that is their home now and they've
raised their children there, and they also said that they
understand that the poverty there and a lot of the
circumstances there are a big part of why there's so
much violence that happens. And they said they, yeah, they are,
and they said they've already forgiven their captors. So I
(10:57):
thought that was pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeow wow.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I'm always inspired when people have these horrible things happen
to them and they choose to forgive. Y. I mean, like,
I know, there are times in our lives where so
inspiring cruel and people are mean, and it's so much
harder to do than it sounds.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, And I mean, forgiveness is tough, like it really is.
And I have to say I am not the best
example of that. Sometimes it's hard. It's hard to forgive.
And I'm actually thinking back to times when I have
been an example and uh, yeah, do you remember the
poop cookies Emily?
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Oh, my gosh, we do not need to share that
story on our product.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Oh I've brought it up now, so now we have to.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Oh my gosh, our listeners will never think of us
the same.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
They won't, but this is us. So whatever I do?
You want to tell the story? Do you want you
want me to tell it?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Okay, I guess we're going there, We're going there. We're
all well.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
So we have another sister. Her name's Julie. We've mentioned
her before.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Oh wait, do we want to give a warning first, like, kids,
if you're listening to this, please don't do this.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
This is not an idea. Don't get any ideas from this.
This is not good examples.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
This is like a story about what not to do.
So let's just we're just gonna put that out there first. Okay,
So we have a sister. Her name is Julie. We've
mentioned her multiple times in the podcast. When she was
in middle school, she was bullied and there was this
one girl who was especially mean to her.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
She was and was always just picking on her. And
one day this girl invited Julie to a party and
we're like, oh, maybe she's finally being nice. Maybe she's
finally gonna include Julie. When Julie gets there, there are
a bunch of kids who are all standing there with
water guns and buckets of water, and they just soak her.
(12:59):
She comes home and here is We're so frustrated that
this was all so mean. She's awful anyway, so we
wanted to do something about it. Yes, and right at this,
I'm like a kid, Hollie. You were like you were,
You were like I was still older. You were like
(13:20):
an adult. All it gives me this terrible idea.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I gave you an assignment.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
So what we do? This is so gross that we
put on some rubber gloves.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I gave you gloves. At least I didn't tell you
guys did this? You and your friend?
Speaker 5 (13:37):
So my friend and I put on some rubber gloves.
We went over to my friend's house and we collected
some of her dog's oop. We rolled it into balls
and rolled.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Sugar. Yes, they looked like chocolate.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
They looked really quite delicious if you didn't know what
they were.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Put a little nice bow on it. We wrote a
little card.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Some saran wrap over the plate from your secret admirer.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
We go to this girl's house, leave it on the doorstep,
bring the doorbell and run run, And fortunately for her,
our mother intervened. When you told Mom, I think you
had a conscience.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
A lot, I felt a little guilty.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
She made us go get it off the doorstep, and
at the.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Time I was like, oh my gosh, this girl deserves it.
She deserves the poop cookies. And I was so mad.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
But I know, but we did.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
She is very lucky she wasn't home when we let
the door bell, Like, yes, probably a miracle for her, yes,
But we went and grabbed the plate of cookies. We
never actually gave them to her, she never made them or.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Anything, but no, and we learned it it.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
We learned a big lesson from that, right, I mean,
I know I did. Like Mom talked to us about
how that was not the best way to handle things,
talk to us about forgivingness.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
Oh yeah, we talked about how like is that going
to accomplish anything? Like it was kind of funny. But
if we had done that, It's not like this girl
would have all of a sudden been kinder to our sister.
It's not like she would have been sorry. It's not
like anything good would have come from it.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Mom's totally right.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
The best thing we could do in that situation is
recognize this girl was probably going through a hard time herself.
She was probably struggling with her own things. And our
sister Julie turned out great. Everything turned out fine. But
we really did learn a lesson that. Yeah, forgiveness is better.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Than forgiveness is better than revenge.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Yes, it's not easy, but it is.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
No, No, it's not easy. I think it's something we
all struggle with and all have to work on. And
back to the story. I mean, Josh was such a
great example of this, his whole family was, and I
loved what Josh said about forgiveness.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
How could I not forgive? With all that I've done
against God and He still uses me, you know, how
could I not forgive those that wanted to harm us?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Wow?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
It is such a good perspective because none of us
are perfect.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
We all make mistakes.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
And yeah, obviously I've made my fair share of mistakes,
including telling my little sister to make poop cookies, but
I am perfect.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I really just believe that when we realize how much
grace God has for us, then we can have a
lot more grace for others. And I think our mom
taught us that that day, and the Sullivan family is
such a great example of that.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
Whether you're a believer non believer, none of that doesn't matter.
What happened to us, what happened to me, it was
a miracle from God.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
I just want to thank everyone for joining us today
because this is such an amazing story and we hope
that this story has brightened your day. Thank you for
joining us. If you have a miracle to share, contact
us at the Miracle files dot com or find us
on Facebook.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
We're now releasing multiple episodes each month, so subscribe on
your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content
as well.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles,
and don't forget to look for his light in your
own lives.
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