By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
DETROIT LAKES (Worthy News) – The lead pastor of a church in the U.S. state of Minnesota says he is “heartbroken” after its missionary was killed and his wife detained in connection with the murder.
Troy M. Easton wrote his church that Beau Shroyer, 44, from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, was killed on October 25 while on a missionary trip to Angola, Africa, with his wife and their five children.
Shroyer’s parish, Lakes Area Vineyard Church, announced in a statement seen and confirmed by Worthy News that his wife, Jackie Shroyer, was arrested soon after the attack.
“Today, our grief deepened immeasurably as we’ve learned that his wife was arrested in connection with his death. I’m so sorry and simply do not have words to express about this news,” he wrote.
“I am heartbroken and in shock that I need to send this.”
Authorities in Angola have not released details about how his wife is connected to the murder.
The Lakes Area Vineyard Church, located in Minnesota, said earlier that Beau was killed in a “violent, criminal attack” on October 25 while on mission work in Angola.
CHILDREN CARED FOR
Easton stressed, however, that the couple’s five children are being “well cared for.
The Shroyers moved to the African nation in 2021 with their five children to serve as missionaries with SIM USA, a North Carolina-based Evangelical organization.
SIM USA’s Chief Personnel Officer and General Counsel Mark Bosscher said the organization “has taken steps to ensure that Jackie has appropriate legal representation.”
He added that they are “working closely” with Lakes Area Vineyard Church to “care for the Shroyers’ five children.”
The death of the missionary abruptly ended his work teaching residents “about Christianity and God’s love” in a “remote bush village” without electricity or a sewage system, his church said.
Shortly before he died, Beau Shroyer wrote on social media about meeting a young student named Mauricio, who walked long distances to attend school.
“One of the reasons that the Nyneka people, who we are serving, are among the most marginalized people groups in Angola was a lack of access to education,” he recalled. “Please pray for Mauricio and others like him who spend half their day walking to school and back.”
AGRICULTURAL EFFORTS
Another post mentioned his agricultural efforts, saying he had spent the day “spreading manure by hand over a 40×16 meter agricultural plot.”
Beau Shroyer had earlier explained during a presentation that the government of Angola had given the ministry a parcel of land next to an orange farm.
Yet he stressed it was “constantly under attack from criminals, which affected the property they were trying to develop.”
He presented supporters with a list of property needs, including building a perimeter wall and hiring more security.
The late pastor said the orange farm next to the property “of the youth ministry” installed an electrified, 10-foot (about three meters) high razor wire fence and hired “about 50 guards” to protect the farm day and night.
But they still struggled with crime in the area, something that became clear on October 25 when the missionary was killed.
With Beau Shroyer now in detention, Pastor Easton said he had no words enough to express “disbelief and sorrow.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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