Missionary pilot freed, cleared in Mozambique

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Up next, from prison to freedom.

Last year, an American missionary pilot was arrested and jailed in Mozambique for several months.

The charter company is part of the Mission Aviation Fellowship in Mozambique. It offers humanitarian aid. But officials accused the pilot of aiding a terrorist group. We’ve been following the story. Here’s WORLD’s Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER: On November 2nd, 2022, missionary pilot Ryan Koher prepped for an uneventful cargo flight into Northern Mozambique, just like he’d done many times before.

RYAN KOHER: I got to the airport with the two South African men and they had all of the goods in their cars. I put the goods through security like at any airport, through the scanner and metal detector and all that stuff.

A government agent noticed vitamins and asked for their permits. Koher and the two men didn’t have the proper paperwork.

RYAN: He held us. Goods never made it to the airplane.

Within a few hours, what began as a simple misunderstanding had escalated to something much more serious.

RYAN: And I think that turned into the idea that we could be flying these vitamins to the enemy in the Northern province. The decision was made to take away our passports and phones and bring us to the police station.

MAF Mozambique flies in and around parts of the country where insurgent groups operate. One group of particular concern pledged allegiance to ISIS and killed more than 4,000 people—displacing nearly one million others.

So when Koher and the other two men could not produce the required permits needed to travel into that area with the goods they had…the missionaries ended up in jail.

Back home, Annabel Koher and their two boys had no idea what was going on.

ANNABEL KOHER: I was trying to get a hold of Ryan during the day because I knew that he was supposed to be flying back home and I just wasn't able to get ahold of him. I just assumed this was one of those things that can happen sometimes in other countries where he would be brought in for questioning. They would get past it and then they would release him. It's something that you are prepared for as a missionary. So I wasn't terribly concerned at that point.

But turns out there was cause for concern…Ryan spent the next two days in a local police holding cell. Then after a hearing, he was moved to the city jail. A couple days later he was moved yet again to a state prison. One week later, on November 16th, 2023, he was put into solitary confinement at a high security prison while government officials continued to investigate the case.

RYAN: At that point, I just surrendered and I said, “Lord, I just trust you with what's going to happen. And, you know, I may not make it out of this, but I know that your plans are good for me.” And, you know, I prayed that He would be glorified through the situation.

Koher says God answered his prayer and granted him favor with the administrators and guards.

The prison fed him only once a day—like the rest of the inmates—but they allowed the mission to bring Koher additional food and material needs. Annabel and the kids prepared to return to the states. She was able to get some clothes and a New Testament to Ryan before she left.

RYAN: So I started reading the Bible through those first few nights in that jail. We read Psalm 91 and it was just super encouraging. It's like water to my soul at that point, the hope and just the lamenting and the longing and, you know, just God being good and through the whole thing.

God’s word sustained Koher during his four months behind bars:

RYAN: I read through the Bible about twice. The scripture really came alive.

Koher was not allowed to speak with his family, but they did correspond by letter.

The US government got involved behind the scenes and the mission eventually found a lawyer willing to fight hard to prove Koher’s innocence. All the while, Mozambique never officially charged him. They seemed to be slow walking the case.

RYAN: They held me in jail for as long as they could before they had to let me out without pressing charges. And then they kept me in the country as long as they could without pressing charges as well.

Koher was released on March 14th, 2023. As he left the prison, he called Annabel. It was the first time they’d spoken for more than 50 days.

ANNABEL: So that was pretty awesome and surprising. Just to see his face and the boys were next to me when that happened. And they were like, “okay, so like why isn't he here?” Because they're like, “he's out, so let him be home now.”

But Koher was unable to leave the country. The government still had his passport.

Finally, last autumn, Koher was allowed to leave and reunite with his family in the US. For much of the past year, the Kohers have lived in Nampa, Idaho as Ryan worked at MAF headquarters…awaiting a final decision about his case.

Last Friday, one of Koher’s team members from Mozambique approached him in the hangar. She handed him her phone.

RYAN: And on the phone was an email saying that the case was dismissed and the whole legal process was coming to a close.

Closed. Without charges. Ryan’s name has been cleared.

RYAN: So we plan to return in February or March next year after our daughter is born. She's due in a couple of weeks in early December. There was never a point where we didn't want to go back. Early in the detainment process, the Lord reminded me that I just need to forgive like Christ forgave us and to love them instead of, you know, closing the doors all the time.

Ryan and Annabel Koher are confident that it's safe to go back. And the mission agrees.

ANNABEL: The boys have been asking ever since we left the country when we get to go back to Mozambique. It's home to them and it's home to us. So we're excited to go back.

Koher seems remarkably unshaken by the whole ordeal. He says he’s ready to just get back to work, though he adds he’ll be much more careful about paperwork moving forward.

RYAN: Yeah, it's just gonna be a life experience. [LAUGHS] And, you know, if there is any danger ahead, which there could be, there's always unknowns, and could be a different situation that comes up. But, you know, we trust that God will be with us through whatever situation arises, just like he has been so far.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

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