Four armed, masked men kidnapped American pastor Josh Sullivan during a church service he was leading at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa, on Thursday, according to international media reports.

While the pastor was preaching to a congregation of roughly 30 people, which included his wife and six children, the men stole two phones and fled the church in the 45-year-old pastor’s silver Toyota Fortuner. Police later found the vehicle abandoned, but there was no trace of Sullivan, a 45-year-old Tennessee native.

A spokesperson for the US State Department told the BBC they are aware of the kidnapping of a US citizen in South Africa, emphasizing that “there is no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens overseas.”