MN - Beau Shroyer, Wife of Detroit Lakes missionary killed in Angola arrested in connection to his death

[Kemug]

A crazy thought I had (though I don’t believe it myself): mother is covering for a child.

Of course it is possible that one of the children felt "forced" to go back, threw a tantrum, and totally lost control.

 

[Kemug]

I have yet to see one single photo of a happy Angolan youngster.

 

[Trooper]

If guns are very limited there, would Americans moving there have to declare their weapons then? My only experience was moving to Hawaii with the Army and while they have more restrictive rules there it's still part of the US. We hand carried ammunition on the plane (checked under the plane, but declared and inspected pre-flight) and we shipped the guns with our house hold goods (also declared, serial numbers noted, listed on high value sheets with the moving company). When the weapons arrived with our household goods we had to register the with the military base AND the local police department. So this is why I ask if they are bringing even a single gun in to the country that is very restrictive, then I feel like it was likely documented including serial number and there was some type of approval process??

Overview of gun laws by nation - Wikipedia <------- you can on this map that Angola is a strongly restrictive nation in regard to importing guns, both long and short, most of the African nations are generally restrictive, Botswana is highly restrictive, Angola a shade less so but putting it in American terms, it would be regarded as 'appallingly' restrictive and confining..

Carrying one into the country would be difficult, and if found, it would be a swift and uncomfortable exit for both gun and owner. Declaring the weaponry would be of little use, really. It would be confiscated, and ones person would be tagged as difficult and perhaps not suitable for entry.. Really, this is how strict these matters are, not just in African nations, either... but in a lot of countries..

Angola is at the same level of restrictive gun shenanigans as Canada is.

 

[Trooper]

IMO they likely went there with bias and expectation. That's kind of indicated when you think of yourself in the role of rescuer.

The job of a missionary is to serve by spreading religion. Religion doesn't automatically go hand in hand with love, peace, and hope, in my experience. Personally, I get resentful when I get proselytized: there's at the very least oblique criticism that my way isn't as good as your (the proselytizer's) way.

I think another angle would be ... it is not really socially acceptable for a grown woman to be smoozing up to and sitting closely with young African boys., either in private or public... I am sorry if this sounds harsh and prudish, but it is how a very great deal of Southern African communities run their lives.. In Central Africa, like the Congo, and Uganda, Somalia, etc, you'd be thrashed publicly.. Northern and Western Africa ,well.... you'd not be seeing the light of day for quite some time.. much is expected of women , behavior-wise, and there are no ifs or buts about it.

 

[Kemug]

Respectfully snipped by me.

Shortened? Sabotaged? Scissored? Silenced? Smidgeoned????

 

[Kemug]

I'm no doubt nitpicking, but I curled my lip just the teensiest bit when the deceased mentioned that he had spent the day "spreading manure by hand." I think it was another example of their "embellishing". I seriously doubt that no spade or shovel was available, or failing that, a suitable piece of something or other. But IMO it was phrased to give a slightly different impression. Yes, sorry, nitpicking.

 

[Trooper]

I'm no doubt nitpicking, but I curled my lip just the teensiest bit when the deceased mentioned that he had spent the day "spreading manure by hand." I think it was another example of their "embellishing". I seriously doubt that no spade or shovel was available, or failing that, a suitable piece of something or other. But IMO it was phrased to give a slightly different impression. Yes, sorry, nitpicking.

If there is one thing no sane person would spread 'by hand', surely it would be manure.......

 

[starlightstarbright]

It’s very strange and frustrating that nothing is being reported in MSM about this case. It’s gone so silent.

I kind of feel like all is perhaps not what it seems and there is some negotiation currently going on behind the scenes. I have not personally been to Angola, but I have lived in other countries where government and police corruption is rife. It is not unusual for the police to act in quite reactive ways to force people’s hand into paying a bribe. I’ve paid them myself. My husband’s employer once had to step in and pay a bribe for us because I refused (we were trying to report a crime, but the police wouldn’t take the report unless we paid a bribe, and I just refused to play the game). I’ve also been advised in another situation by the US embassy to pay brides to get paperwork processed. It can get murky. JMO

I think what actually happened will be much less straightforward once we actually hear the whole story, and I would not be surprised if there is an angle of corruption to all of this (perhaps one that the Shroyers and the mission group broadly were not well equipped to deal with because they were no poorly integrated into the local community). MOO

 

[Lilibet]

I think another angle would be ... it is not really socially acceptable for a grown woman to be smoozing up to and sitting closely with young African boys., either in private or public... I am sorry if this sounds harsh and prudish, but it is how a very great deal of Southern African communities run their lives.. In Central Africa, like the Congo, and Uganda, Somalia, etc, you'd be thrashed publicly.. Northern and Western Africa ,well.... you'd not be seeing the light of day for quite some time.. much is expected of women , behavior-wise, and there are no ifs or buts about it.

Thank you for saying this! I’ve been trying to figure out how to say that it seems very strange to me that she hung around with these boys without her husband or son. She took them to the movies and did a fair amount with them. Frankly, even in this country it would be considered an odd thing for a minister’s wife to do IMO. So a situation could possibly have developed that ended in her husband’s death.

 

[Inthedetails]

The picture of the mother w/all their children in the airport looks like an entirely different person from the woman in the pic in Angola where she's sitting w/a group of local boys.

It is a different person. The woman in the airport photo is the stranger who helped them.

 

[Lilibet]

I think what actually happened will be much less straightforward once we actually hear the whole story, and I would not be surprised if there is an angle of corruption to all of this (perhaps one that the Shroyers and the mission group broadly were not well equipped to deal with because they were no poorly integrated into the local community). MOO

I agree. And it’s very possible she is being blamed for a murder someone else committed. Or not. But even their church back home isn’t really defending her, so I wonder what they know. Time will tell.
JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

I'm no doubt nitpicking, but I curled my lip just the teensiest bit when the deceased mentioned that he had spent the day "spreading manure by hand." I think it was another example of their "embellishing". I seriously doubt that no spade or shovel was available, or failing that, a suitable piece of something or other. But IMO it was phrased to give a slightly different impression. Yes, sorry, nitpicking.

"By hand" simply means without machinery to help. So using a shovel would be "by hand" as opposed to using a mechanized manure spreader. The manure was spread by his physical labor, or "by hand."

jmo

 

[adot0902]

I'm no doubt nitpicking, but I curled my lip just the teensiest bit when the deceased mentioned that he had spent the day "spreading manure by hand." I think it was another example of their "embellishing". I seriously doubt that no spade or shovel was available, or failing that, a suitable piece of something or other. But IMO it was phrased to give a slightly different impression. Yes, sorry, nitpicking.

I watched that video and there was a part where whoever was filming inquired “why no tractor” and Beau responded that they are in the relationship building part and he wanted to be able to pay people to work…. I’m not nitpicking either but that was different for me. Like there aren’t other jobs and we can get a tractor for manure shoveling. I don’t know I just don’t understand their “mission” at all.

 

[Kemug]

"By hand" simply means without machinery to help. So using a shovel would be "by hand" as opposed to using a mechanized manure spreader. The manure was spread by his physical labor, or "by hand."

jmo

Yes I do realize that, but it sounds to me as if the good folk at home supporting them likely would not realise that, and he was playing up to the idea of the hard working missionary toiling in the most primitive of conditions.

 

[Inthedetails]

Yes I do realize that, but it sounds to me as if the good folk at home supporting them likely would not realise that, and he was playing up to the idea of the hard working missionary toiling in the most primitive of conditions.

Yes, I agree it was an attempt at storytelling and presenting an interesting narrative.

jmo

 

[scapa]

Yes, I agree it was an attempt at storytelling and presenting an interesting narrative.

jmo

Agree.

And also possibly with an eye to fundraising, if that's how this trip was managed, since it conveys a) the difficult local conditions, b) the zeal and selfless labour of the missionary pitching in with bare hands to help with fieldwork and c) the connections being forged with local communities who can't but appreciate this positive intervention -- all of which justifies the support of the church back home.

IDK. Something happened here, and J was likely involved. I'm not sure that the whole story is going to emerge anytime soon, but there's definitely a thick layer of frustration for me in these SM posts -- more Mosquito Coast than happy family doing good works abroad.

Just a feeling, and strictly IMO, MOO, etc.

 

[Chimera]

SIM (Christian organization) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

SIM USA is a cross-cultural mission organization that stands for Society for International Ministries. SIM USA's mission is to help develop mature churches around the world through various means, including: Discipleship ministries, Theological education, Community education, International schools, and Technical services.


SIM USA is part of an international, interdenominational Evangelical Christian mission organization that was founded in 1893. The initials originally stood for "Soudan Interior Mission".

Soudan being an older spelling of the Sudan region of West Africa. After various name changes and mergers, the mission simply goes by "SIM" today.

Still puzzled as to Jackie's motive.

It sounded from everything I've read here and elsewhere that she was on board with the mission work.
Something unrelated to that, then ?
Such extreme measures makes me wonder if the motive was extreme as well ?

I feel so badly for their kids !
They've essentially lost both parents.
Omo.

 

[Cryptic]

Hadn't they been going to Anglola for 3 years? It doesn't really sound like it was really working out for the family.

I wonder if she wanted a divorce and he denied her and then threatened to keep the children.

Maybe she thought this was the only way to save the children from her husband's mission and control over their lives.

Well said and to the point. I wish I could have condensed my posts into your three well written sentences.

Thinking a perfect storm of: As you said- Life is just not working out in big ways and small ways. A possible divorce is looming. Who gets the children?

Then add: Social isolation (nobody to talk it over with face to face to help explore other options), possible waning commitment to the missionary cause- or having never really bought into the cause to start with.

Desperate people, then start think desperately- and some then do desperate things.... ?

 

[Trooper]

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

Beau Shroyer, 44, was killed Friday and leaves behind his wife and five children.

www.startribune.com

'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.'

Let us hope that Mr Fairman can shed some light on the situation in jig time.


( I am skeptical about a 'hitman' , among the civilian population.. it is not , generally speaking, a factor in the culture, .... however, if Beau was playing policeman at any time with his congregation, the real Angolan police would be extremely territorial about that, and send in a 'persuader''.... Angolan coppers are about as tough an outfit as you would want to meet on a dark night. )

 

[Trooper]

Thank you for saying this! I’ve been trying to figure out how to say that it seems very strange to me that she hung around with these boys without her husband or son. She took them to the movies and did a fair amount with them. Frankly, even in this country it would be considered an odd thing for a minister’s wife to do IMO. So a situation could possibly have developed that ended in her husband’s death.

It was a difficult thing to say, but it was a shock for me to see that photo, and to me, and this is purely a personal view, the boys themselves looked resentful, or defiant, something was completely off, as if they knew it was, in their culture, wrong. She was so very close, and no grown man , or chaperone, or Grandma, or Aunties around.. .... this is my opinion, only, from living in Southern African countries for months at a time, not to be taken as set in concrete for anyone else..