Beau Shroyer, 44, a pastor and former police officer from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, was tragically murdered while serving as a missionary in Lubango, Angola, on behalf of SIM USA.
His death occurred on Friday, October 25, mere months after he and his family had expressed concerns about ongoing security issues at their mission site to a local church.
Randy Fairman, president of SIM USA, announced the heartbreaking news in a statement on Saturday, saying, “On Friday, October 25, I received a phone call informing me that Beau Shroyer was killed while serving Jesus in Angola and is now with his Savior.” SIM USA is associated with a global missionary organization dedicated to spreading the Gospel in challenging regions.
Troy Easton, lead pastor of the Lakes Area Vineyard Church, where the Shroyer family were longtime members and last visited three months prior, confirmed the news to the congregation. He stated, “Yesterday, Friday, October 25, we were notified by Mark Bosscher, the Chief Personnel Officer & General Counsel of SIM-USA, that our dear brother and friend Beau Shroyer was killed in an act of violence while serving Jesus in Angola, Africa.”
He assured the church members that Jackie, Beau's wife, along with their five children, were safe and being cared for following the incident.
In June, Jackie Shroyer shared their missionary work in Lubango with Country Faith Church, revealing that the family had relocated to Angola about three years ago. It marked their first overseas living experience and their initial venture into missionary work. During their first year, they focused on learning Portuguese and adapting to the local culture while confronting persistent malaria and security challenges.
Jackie recounted numerous adversities, including sicknesses and security breaches, with several break-ins occurring at their residence while they were asleep. “We battled many other sicknesses. We had a lot of security issues. Mistrust with guards. We went through so many guards and we had several break-ins in our home during the night while we were at home sleeping,” she stated.
“On top of everything else, trying to figure out how to live in this culture, we had so many changes, so many difficult experiences that caused a lot of fear and trauma,” she added.
Beau further elaborated in June on the difficulties faced by the ministry, particularly noting the location next to an orange farm frequently targeted by criminals. This crime wave affected the security of the ministry's property development efforts. He detailed how the farm mitigated theft by installing a 10-foot high electrified razor wire fence and employing about 50 guards, yet theft persisted in an area where hunger drives people to desperate measures.
“These guys are here day and night guarding against thieves who will come in to steal the oranges to sell,” Beau described. “It's so bad that they are shooting at people, and about a week before we came [to the U.S.], … one of the thieves was shot and killed in a machete fight. So it's desperation like Jackie was saying. They're so hungry that they're risking their lives to get a stack of oranges,” He appealed.
Before their return to Angola, the U.S. State Department, in its most recent travel advisory issued in September, ranked the country at a Level 2, indicating heightened caution due to crime concerns.
