A Minnesota woman was arrested in Angola on suspicion that she murdered her husband while serving together as missionaries in the African nation of Angola. After the death of the first-time missionary, Beau Shroyer, Jackie Shroyer has been taken into custody in connection to the death of her husband.
Lead pastor of Lakes Area Vineyard Church, Troy Eastman, released a statement on behalf of the church, which read, “I love you very much and I am heartbroken and in shock that I need to send this type of update to you today. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I’m going to ask you to sit down, take a deep breath and remember that God is our ever present help in times of trouble.”
Acknowledging the news that Jackie had been arrested, he said, “As you all know, our community has been deeply saddened by the death of our dear brother and friend Beau Shroyer, who was killed in a violent, criminal attack in Angola, Africa on Friday, October 25. Today, our grief and sadness has deepened immeasurably as we’ve learned that his wife, Jackie Shroyer, has been arrested in connection with his death.
I’m so sorry and simply do not have words to express my disbelief and sorrow about this news. What I can tell you is that the Shroyer children are well cared for and we will workalongside SIM USA and SIM Angola to ensure that continues to be the case. I also want you to know that we will do what we can to come alongside and care for you too.
The statement from the church continued, “This is unimaginable, and yet it is very real. As a community we must cry out to the Lord for his grace, mercy and comforting presence for the Shroyer children and family. We must honor God and love each other by how we communicate about this, and we must continue to stand together, asking God to do in and through all of this what only He can. News of this nature will undoubtedly stir up questions and media attention.”
The Christian Tribune previously reported on the response from the church in the wake of Shroyer’s death. Randy Fairman, the president of SIM USA, the organization Shroyer was working for, announced, “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.”
Eastman stated at the time that they must remain faithful in this moment of hardship, stating, “Moments like these create so many unanswerable questions for us and it adds to the pain to know that we may never understand why our Father has allowed something like this to happen,” he said.
He added, “And yet, amidst the shock and grief, we must not forget the truths found in the scriptures that point to His wise, merciful, gracious, faithful, trustworthy, and always loving character as well as the truth that Beau was a man who, because of his love for the Lord, gave His life to pointing the lost, the hurting, the desperate and the broken to the God who rescued, saved and transformed his life,” he said.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.