Missionary from Detroit Lakes killed in ‘act of violence’ in Africa

A former Detroit Lakes, Minn., police officer and real estate agent who moved to Angola, Africa, in 2021 with his wife and five children for missionary work was killed last week.

Lead pastor Troy Easton of Lakes Area Vineyard Church in Detroit Lakes shared in a message over the weekend with his congregation that Beau Shroyer, 44, “was killed in an act of violence while serving Jesus in Angola, Africa.”

“At this point, there are many details about what’s happened that are still unknown, however we have been in contact with his wife Jackie, and are doing what we can to come alongside them in this shocking and awful time,” Easton said in the message.

Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steve Todd attends Vineyard and described Sunday’s service as somber, especially for those just hearing of the tragedy.

“They had shared the shocking news on Saturday, and then on Sunday they did speak about this situation for several minutes,” Todd said in a phone interview. “It was a sad time [for] people who didn’t get the email who kind of learned about what happened in limited details. I guess I don’t even know exactly what happened, but that he had been killed.”

The Shroyers were working with the missionary organization SIM USA, founded in 1893 in Charlotte, N.C. SIM USA President Randy Fairman shared in a message to Lakes Area Vineyard Church that the Shroyers were one of the first families to move to Angola after pandemic lockdowns eased.

Fairman said he was heading to Angola in hopes of providing comfort to the family and more information to the congregation.

Mark Bosscher, SIM’s chief personnel officer, said in a phone call with the Minnesota Star Tribune that Shroyer was killed Friday, but no other information was available as the investigation is ongoing. He said SIM has been in Angola since 1916 and he’s not aware of another SIM missionary killing there.

“We have not seen a high level of violence in Angola. ... It can be unstable in the way that a lot of places in the world are, but we’ve got a really solid team on the ground,” he said. “We’ve got a really, really upstanding man who was out there doing really good work, and this appears to be just a senseless act of violence.”

Shroyer was a police officer for about seven years before going into real estate, Todd said. He said Shroyer was well-known in the town of 10,000 people. The family returned to Detroit Lakes over the summer, Todd said, and shared at a Sunday service what mission work they were doing in Africa, such as weekly soup nights inviting community members into their home.

“They were really just building relationships,” he said. “They were doing different outreaches, trying to get to know the kids in the community.”

Angola is a large Portuguese-speaking country in southern Africa and a major exporter of petroleum, but rising fuel prices have led to violent protests and alleged killings by Angolan security forces, according to the Human Rights Watch.

Todd said he’s humbled by Shroyer, who he said “epitomizes that well done, good and faithful servant.”

Along with his wife, Shroyer leaves behind children Bella, Avery, Oakley, Iva and Eden.