Minnesota missionary killed after moving family to Angola

Beau Shroyer was killed in Angola on Friday, said Lakes Area Vineyard Church lead pastor Troy Easton. Shroyer and his wife and five children attended the Detroit Lakes, Minn. church before moving to Central Africa in 2021 with the missionary organization SIM USA. The family was among the first to begin serving with the organization after COVID lockdowns eased, wrote SIM USA President Randy Fairman. Before becoming a missionary, Shroyer worked as a police officer and a real estate agent.

In a letter to the congregation, Pastor Easton said Chief Personnel Officer of SIM USA Mark Bosscher informed church leaders Friday that Shroyer had been killed in an act of violence. Exact details of what happened remain unclear and the church is in contact with Shroyer’s wife, Easton said. Meanwhile, Fairman said he was traveling to Angola over the weekend to meet with the family and to discuss their next steps.

Is Angola a dangerous country for Christians? Angola has not had a high level of reported violence, Bosscher told The Minnesota Star Tribune. He said he was not aware of another missionary being killed there since SIM began working in the country in 1916. Christians in the country face pressure from the government to comply with restrictive registration laws that are intended to control religious activity, according to Open Doors’ 2024 dossier on Angola.

Dig deeper: Read Eric Patterson’s opinion column about a bipartisan congressional commission on international religious freedom.