A Minnesota pastor was “killed in an act of violence” in Africa while he and his family were on a Christian mission trip to Africa.
Beau Shroyer, a pastor of Lakes Area Vineyard Church in Detroit Lakes, was murdered in the Southern African nation of Angola on Friday, lead pastor of the church, Troy Easton, wrote in a letter to his congregation.
“Our dear brother and friend Beau Shroyer was killed in an act of violence while serving Jesus in Angola, Africa,” the letter read.
Shroyer, 44, was in Africa with SIM USA, an organization long involved in “cross-cultural missions,” with his family when he was killed.
Easton shared that “details about what’s happened that are still unknown,” but they have been in contact with his wife, Jackie, and are doing all they can for her and their five children during this “shocking and awful time.”
“As more details became available regarding what’s next for the family, what arrangements are being made to celebrate and honor Beau’s life, and practical ways you can love and serve them, we will be certain to share them with you,” he wrote.
“In the meantime, please be in prayer that the God of all comfort would make His love, His nearness and His presence so obvious to Jackie, Bella, Avery, Oakley, Iva and Eden, and that they would cling to Him.”
Shroyer, 44, had previously worked as a police officer for the Detroit Lakes Police Department in 2013 and then as a real estate agent before he became a pastor, according to the Detroit Lakes Tribune.
In 2021, he and his wife, Jackie, started doing missionary work.
The Shroyer family had previously spoken with the Detroit Lakes Tribune about his plans to relocate his family to become long-term missionaries in Angola.
The pastor described the area they were moving to as a “remote bush village” with “no mail service, electricity, no sewer or water systems.”
“We’re really going back in time,” Jackie told the outlet.
She explained that the family’s job would be teaching the region’s youngest residents about Christianity and God’s love.
“Most of these kids have never even heard the name of Jesus,” the mother of five said.
“That’s why we’re going … to teach them about the love that the Father has for them — that they are important, and that they matter.”
The couple had previously been to Angola on a two-week mission project before relocating to the African nation, but Jackie said they had never been to the village where they planned on setting up shop and preaching the gospel.
“I’m really excited to get into the community and meet tons of people and form a lot of new relationships,” their 13-year-old daughter, Bella, told the outlet.
Following his death, SIM USA President Randy Fairman wrote to Lakes Area Vineyard Church that the Shroyers were among the first families to move to Angola after pandemic lockdowns eased.
Fairman said he was heading to Angola to comfort the family and provide more information to the congregation.
“It is my belief that from his vantage point, he can see how his family will be cared for, and it is not hard for him to trust our good Father,” Fairman wrote in his letter.
“From our perspective and the perspective of Jackie and the kids, we must now trust Jesus in a season that we never imagined.”
