<![CDATA[SULLIVAN'S IN SOUTH AFRICA

<![CDATA[SULLIVAN'S IN SOUTH AFRICA - Blog]]>Sat, 03 Oct 2026 03:00:31 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[September Prayer Letter]]>Thu, 03 Sep 2026 09:58:09 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/september-prayer-letter3502831Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

Thank you for your prayers and support for our ministry.

We can’t believe it’s September, and we are closing in on the last half of the year. Bay Baptist Bible College put on an event to teach young adults how to teach children’s church, Sunday school, and how to lead children to Christ. They had over 90 in attendance! We were thrilled that several of our people from Motherwell attended, including our daughter, Mallorie.

Last week, we were blessed to host a “5th Sunday rally,” for all the like minded churches in the area. On every 5th Sunday of a month, the local town Independent Baptist Churches in Port Elizabeth gather together for a time of fellowship for the local assemblies. We were able to host this service at Cornerstone Baptist Church. We had a wonderful time in the Lord and I had the opportunity to preach. We had nearly 150 people in attendance.

This month we have continued doing Bible studies, and we are fervently praying for the Lord to save someone from Cornerstone. We trust that God will build His church. This month we are looking at starting a “college night,” and we ask that you please be in prayer about that.

On a personal note, we were thrilled to meet with a lawyer this month to start the process of adopting our little girl, Indi. We ask that you pray with us that God will continue to open all the doors to get this done in a timely manner.

]]><![CDATA[October Prayer Letter]]>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 14:46:20 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/october-prayer-letter6540938Dear Pastor and praying friends,
What a wonderfully productive time this past month has been for our family and ministry!
Firstly, we have begun a new ministry at Cornerstone Baptist Church. We are calling it “Uni-Night.” Every Thursday evening, we have a service for college-aged young adults. Our new church plant is only 8 minutes away from Nelson Mandela University, where there are approximately 30,000 students. God has given us a great opportunity to reach them! We had 16 people attend our first service, 12 attend the week after, and last night we had 13. We play a few games, teach a salvation Bible lesson, and feed them. We have been thrilled by their genuinely deep, introspective questions. We believe that, by the power of the Holy Spirit’s conviction, we will see some put their faith in Christ soon. In particular, will you please pray for Prince, Ace, Kay, and Nosipho?
Secondly, we have had a young man named Odwa who has been attending for about 2 months. He grew up in a so-called Christian home and even attended a Christian school. But last week, he realized he had never truly accepted Christ as his Savior, and he put his faith and trust in Jesus. We rejoice with him! My family, myself, and many of you have been praying for someone to accept Christ for over 4 months. We are thankful that the Lord answered our prayers.
Thirdly, we just finished our VBS at Fellowship Baptist in Motherwell. We had 110, 80, and 135 kids, respectively, on each of the three days. The Gospel was preached, games were played, and fun was had! We are thankful for the young people in our church who helped us. We also thank Missionary Ashley Taylor, who greatly helped organize and run our VBS. Ashley Taylor is a missionary to the deaf and is also learning isiXhosa. She runs our children’s church and is a great help. Ashley was in attendance on the night I was taken last year. We are thankful that she is still working with our church at Fellowship. Pray for her, and keep Miso Mahamo in your prayers as he leads our church. We are praying that the Lord will use him greatly in the area.
Lastly, thank you for your prayers and support of our ministries. We truly could not be here without it. With that being said, as we seek to grow two churches, the costs are growing as well. If you would like to be a part of the exciting things happening here in South Africa, we would be grateful for your consideration of helping us meet some of these growing needs.

]]><![CDATA[May Prayer Letter]]>Tue, 19 May 2026 07:14:53 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/may-prayer-letter7867999 It is with joyful hearts full of gratitude that we report the last few weeks have been very busy! God has shown Himself faithful and has provided a building for us to rent for our second church plant, Cornerstone Baptist Church. Not only that, but He has also provided help. Because our new church is located very close to the local university, one of the young men from Grace Baptist Church, Josh Mills, is being sent out to work with us. He attends the university, and we know he will be a great asset to the ministry. Josh has already been a tremendous blessing in helping us prepare and get things ready, and we look forward to serving and growing together.

We covet your prayers for many reasons. This new church plant is moving us out of the township and into “town.” Because South Africa is so segregated, it almost feels like moving to an entirely new mission field. We will be ministering to different people groups, cultures, and even languages. Please pray that the Lord will help and equip us for this work. We also ask prayer for Gospel opportunities and meaningful connections to be made in the community. Lastly, please pray for our opening service on May 31st.

In the meantime, we were blessed to fill in for missionaries Kevin and Corli Hall at Kuyga Baptist Church while they were in the States for a couple of weeks. My wife had several opportunities to teach, and I was able to preach during that time. Praise the Lord, one lady accepted Christ as her Savior last week!

At Motherwell, Miso is doing a wonderful job leading the ministry. We have a solid core group of young men faithfully going through Bible studies with him, and this month we saw one young lady trust Christ and follow the Lord in baptism. We praise the Lord for His continued work and faithfulness!]]><![CDATA[April Prayer Letter]]>Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:35:58 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/april-prayer-letter9555285Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

Psalm 48:1 - “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.”

We had a wonderful Easter at FBC Motherwell. In the weeks leading up to Easter, I felt the Lord leading us to challenge our church family to intentionally invite others to the service. I preached several messages about reaching others, and we encouraged each person to invite three people to attend. We also printed special invitations, and our family spent the weekend back in Motherwell visiting and inviting people personally. It was a joy to reconnect with the community, and it was especially refreshing for our children to participate in serving others. We were grateful to have 70 people in attendance for our Easter service.

Please continue to pray for Miso as he faithfully helps lead the services. Miso is currently attending Bible college and has recently started a Bible study for the young men in our church. We have been overjoyed to hear of the reception he has been getting. There have been about 10 young men consistently in attendance! Miso was also able to take about 10 people attend a “young adults” camp this month. Several of the these folks are unsaved, and we are praying for their salvation. We thank the Lord for Miso and for the other young men God is raising up in the church.

In the interim of planting our next church, and weaning ourselves out of Motherwell, we have been able to serve in Kuyga Baptist Church under missionary Kevin Hall. It has been a joy to share the Gospel in a new area, help where we can, and learn from the strong preaching and teaching we have heard. Please pray for this wonderful church to grow and for souls to be saved in this area.

We would also greatly appreciate your prayers as we continue searching for a building where we can begin a Bible study and future church plant in the South End. This is one of the most densely populated areas in the city and currently lacks a strong gospel-preaching church. It is also located near the tourist district and the airport, making it a strategic place for outreach. Once we secure a location, I plan to begin canvassing the area and inviting people to a Bible study. Our prayer is that this will grow into a new church in the near future.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and continued support of our ministry. The Lord has helped our family recover well, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead as we seek to start this new work.]]><![CDATA[January Prayer Letter]]>Thu, 22 Jan 2026 09:30:03 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/january-prayer-letter3979818Dear Pastor and Praying friends,

Psa 18:3 - "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."

   After a month here in South Africa we are beginning to settle in. The first couple of weeks were difficult, as you can imagine, but God is gracious. Our God is worthy to be praised and served. We have enjoyed spending time with fellow missionaries as well as our church people. Since we are not at FBC full time we have taken this opportunity to visit other like minded churches in the city. We have loved this and are excited about what God is doing in Port Elizabeth. With that said there are only 11 fundamental baptist churches in our city of 1.4 million people. That is less than 1 church for every 127,000 people. Obviously, more has to be done to reach the lost. Our city needs more churches and I pray that God will allow us to plant one.

Exciting News - That last time I preached at FBC Motherwell was the night I was taken hostage. After a long hiatus I was able to preach again at our church. Again I say that God is worthy to be praised! It was a day that began with anxiety and finished with hope. I am thankful that God allowed me to return to the pulpit. Thank you to everyone who prayed of us. I also want to thank those who sacrificially gave to our ministry.

Thank you - I have recently told a few friends how much money we had to spend last year on travel, rent, vehicles, food, clothing, etc. The number isn't important but it was not something we were prepared for. When we left South Africa for the US we left with nearly none of our belongings. My wife did the best she knew how and we arrived with many needs. Many of you felt the Lord lead you to give and we were able to make it out of a desperate situation with no needs and no debt. Thank you.

   Our children are now back in school for the first time since April 2025. My wife has been homeschooling for the last few months but we are excited for them to get back to normal. I have been meeting with the young men from our church. Miso is doing well so far in leading the services. I will be traveling this week to accompany missionary Noah Wilkerson as he and his family move to a new city in South Africa. Pray for the Wilkersons and they begin a new ministry in Mbombela this year.

   Requests - Pray for Miso, Masilakhe, Masiwakhe and Elethu. - FBC Motherwell - New Bible studies to begin -

]]><![CDATA[December Prayer Letter]]>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 15:51:58 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/december-prayer-letter3908173Hello pastors and friends!

We hope you enjoyed your holiday season and are reflecting on the goodness of God over 2025. It has been a crazy year for our family and ministry, but we are thankful to have seen God’s hand every step of the way.

   For the better part of the year, we have focused on healing from a traumatic experience. This has been hard at times, because it felt as if we were being “benched,” so to speak. But God has used this time of waiting to grow our faith like never before. We praise Him for it!

All of that being said, we are excited to announce that we are closing out this year in our own home in South Africa! We arrived back home on December 11th, and have thoroughly enjoyed being back with our South African children and the people God has called us to!

As we re-enter ministry and routine in South Africa, we covet your prayers. We are praying for the Lord’s direction and for perfect peace as we take our next steps. After much prayer and counsel, the difficult decision to not return to Motherwell has been made. It is our hope and prayer that God will provide a national leader to continue Fellowship Baptist Church. Until He does, we will work closely with the young men standing in the gap. We are also very thankful for Missionary Mark Coffey, who has been preaching and taking men from a neighboring church to worship with our people. We understand this is God’s church, and we believe He will continue to build it!

In the meantime, we will continue to serve and survey potential new areas for a future church plant. We appreciate your prayers and support!

Lastly, thank you to every person who donated monetarily to our family for Christmas this year. Our family can look back and focus on the love of God’s people and the good memories made, rather than just a scary circumstance that happened. We couldn't do that without you!

]]><![CDATA[September Prayer Letter - Announcement!]]>Thu, 11 Sep 2025 16:52:24 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/september-prayer-letter-announcementAnnouncement:
We have purchased tickets! Lord willing, we will be flying back to South Africa on December 9 of this year. Please be in prayer for us as we prepare for our return. We are both excited and a little nervous, but our hearts long to be back with our South African people. These past few months have been filled with travel, rest, family time, training, and challenges, and through it all our desire remains to please the Lord in everything we do.

Continued Prayers:
Please continue to pray for Pastor Romza as he leads FBC Motherwell in our absence. The church seems to be doing well, with new visitors each week. It is encouraging to see how, despite difficulties, our people have remained faithful and are still inviting others to church. We are asking the Lord to grow the church and to provide a faithful man to serve as the future leader of Fellowship Baptist.

I also ask you to pray for me as I seek direction from the Lord. Apart from spiritual healing, this is my greatest need. I am eager to return to the work in South Africa but also want to be sure I’m following the Lord’s leading. There is potential for a new church plant, but we also need to finish the work at FBC. Please pray as well for the Tim Johnson family, who will complete deputation and fly to South Africa on December 10 to begin their ministry.

Travel Updates:
Over the past weeks we’ve had the blessing of traveling in Mississippi and Georgia, and the Lord has allowed us to gain some additional support. We will be back in Georgia and TN later this month. As the ministry grows, so do the needs, and we are thankful for each of you who faithfully supports us. Please continue to pray that God will meet the financial needs of our family. This will be the third time in just nine months that we have flown our entire family to South Africa, and each time God has provided. We trust He will do so again. ]]><![CDATA[August Prayer Letter]]>Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:00:08 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/august-prayer-letter7178994 Dear Pastors and Praying Friends.

We can’t believe it’s August, and half of 2025 has come and gone. We hope that you all had a very blessed summer, with fruitful vacation bible schools, and restful family time.

Our family has spent the last two months traveling. Before the kidnapping in April, we had planned a family trip to Thailand to attend a mission’s retreat. We decided not to let that trip go to waste. So at the beginning of July, we headed back to South Africa for a couple of weeks, and then on to Thailand.

Our trip to South Africa was very healing. We spent time encouraging our people and being encouraged by their faithfulness. While we were there, our church was able to host its first funeral. This is obviously not a happy circumstance, but we rejoiced in the opportunity to share the Gospel with this lost family. We also took part in a soccer tournament at Camp Rhino. We had about 15 young people attend and sit under Gospel preaching. My wife was able to be there to hold our newest church member, baby Zizipho. I had the opportunity to preach at Newton Park Baptist Church, under the leadership of missionary Jeremy Hall. Lastly, I was able to go back and stand behind the pulpit at Motherwell. This was challenging for me, but the Lord truly helped me through it.

In Thailand, God did many things in our hearts. We believe that in His sovereignty, He ordered our steps to be there. Our burden for missions was deepened, and we were reminded of the urgency of the call. We were able to spend time with several veteran missionaries and glean from their wisdom. We are so thankful God gave us this opportunity.

Update:
Although we have some meetings booked, we have been counseled by our Pastor to keep our traveling to a minimum. If you have contacted me about a future meeting and I have not responded, please know that it was not intentional. I have had over 100 invitations for podcasts, YouTube videos, church meetings, interviews, and newspaper/magazine articles. I have tried my best to return all of them. I am honored to be invited to all of these events, but I will not be able to do them all. If you have not received a response from me, please email me again at my email missionarysullivan@gmail.com and I will get back to you.

Prayer Request:

Madison Brown and Ashley Taylor. These young ladies are single missionaries who were in attendance during the kidnapping. Although they are much better, they are also dealing with trauma from the incident.
The future of FBC Motherwell and Pastor Romza
Direction on when to return to SA

]]><![CDATA[July Prayer Letter]]>Sat, 05 Jul 2025 14:12:28 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/july-prayer-letter4439837Hello, faithful friends.
First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your patience over the past couple of months. We have not been great at communication, and we apologize for that. The love, support, and continued prayers have been a balm for our weary souls. We have been taking time to process, and with the help of biblical counselors, we are healing.
It has been said, “When you don’t know what to do, just do the next right thing.” So that’s what we’ve been busy doing. We've enjoyed getting involved at our home church through soul-winning, discipleship, and I’ve even had the opportunity to preach a few times.
Meanwhile, our church in Motherwell has been busy! In May, we had 13 mamas attend a women’s conference at Camp Rhino. They left encouraged and excited to serve the Lord. The end of June started a three-week winter break for our school kids. This means camp! We had 10 teens and 10 juniors attend. We pray the Lord continues to use what they learned, and many decisions for the Lord will be made. We are so proud of how the church and Bro. Romsa is doing in our absence.
We recently took a short trip back to South Africa. It was so wonderful to see our people and be in our home. However, we are currently waiting on the Lord. We are trusting Him to order our steps and give us peace about returning full-time. We hope to return to South Africa by the end of the year. Thank you for praying with and for us!

]]><![CDATA[May Prayer Letter]]>Thu, 15 May 2025 13:30:33 GMThttps://sullivansinsouthafrica.weebly.com/blog/may-prayer-letter5423382Dear pastor and praying friends,
We apologize that this ministry update is arriving late to you. Life has been a little busy, to say the least. We trust that you all have seen the news and heard our story so I won’t take the time to get into all the details. Instead, I will focus on what God has done and is doing through this.
On April 10, I was taken from our midweek service and held captive for 6 days. I was then miraculously rescued by the hand of God, without ever paying the ransom they were demanding.
As a result of this traumatic event:

I was able to share the Gospel with my captors.
Thousands have seen the power of prayer
My family has felt closer to the Lord than ever before.
Our faith has grown
God has graciously given us a platform to tell all of America that Jesus Saves!
Some of my loved ones have gotten their hearts right with God.
Our church in Motherwell has experienced God’s grace on a personal level.
Because we returned to the States, I was able to preach at the funeral of a dear friend’s father.

We believe only Heaven will tell what God is doing through this. He has a purpose in every detail of our lives, and that purpose is for our good and His glory! So we trust Him. Our friends and missionary helpers, Ashley Taylor and Madison Brown, were both in the service with us when this happened. They had things stolen as well and are in need of prayer and help. Please keep them in your prayers.

With all of that being said, please know our family is still processing and healing. We will be in the States for the next few months getting the help we know we need. Although we would love to see each and every one of you, we will be keeping travelling to a minimum. Our children really need stability, and look forward to getting that through our home church.
Lastly, we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The outpouring of love and support shown to our family over the last month has been overwhelming! We have been unable to respond to everyone, but please know nothing has gone unnoticed. Thank you for every prayer prayed, every dollar given, and every word of encouragement. We cannot adequately express our gratitude, but we know there will be many rewards in Heaven for the love shown to the Sullivan family. God bless.

Prayer requests:

Fellowship Baptist in Motherwell. To press towards the mark of the high calling of God.
Pastor Romza, as he fills in for me and leads the church.
Souls to be saved and lives to be changed through this.
Safety for those we love in South Africa.
Healing for everyone involved.

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