Missionary Pilot Detained In Mozambique After Relief Supplies Flagged

Ryan Koher with his family. Photo from Mission Aviation Fellowship.

An American missionary pilot serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship is being held in a maximum-security prison in Mozambique on charges he supported insurgents in the country.

Ryan Koher, 31, was detained Nov. 4 along with two South African volunteers.

He had been scheduled to fly supplies, including vitamins, to church-run orphanages in the Montepuez district Cabo Delgado Province.

Cabo Delgado has been the location of unrest led by the insurgent group Islamic State Mozambique.

Koher was working in conjunction with a Mozambican partner, Ambassador Aviation Ltd., which has been flying supplies to Montepuez orphanages since 2014. Ambassador Aviation has participated in evacuating more than 800 civilians from conflicts in the area and has flown in medical and aid personnel, as well as more than 24 tons of food, medicine and relief supplies, Christianity Today reported.

Airport security flagged the supplies that the two South African volunteers, W.J. du Plessis, 77, and Eric Dry, 69, were attempting to deliver to Koher.  Their lawyer told the Lusa News Agency that his clients would to be “very naive” to attempt to pass goods intended for terrorists through airport scanners.

“From what I’ve been told and what I’ve learned from other sources in Inhambane, my clients are paying the price of philanthropy, because they only wanted to help,” he said.

U.S. embassy staff in Mozambique have been allowed to visit Koher. It is unclear what the charges are against him or when he will be brought to court.

Mission Aviation Fellowship President and CEO David Holsten said Koher has been wrongfully detained and urged officials in Mozambique to expedite his release, also calling on U.S. government leaders to intervene.

“I urge Christians around the world to pray for Ryan’s safety and swift release and call on those in power both in Mozambique and here in the US to do everything they can to resolve this wrongful detainment,” Holsten said.

Koher’s wife, Annabel, and two sons, Elias and Hezekiah, have returned to the United States for their security, per Christianity Today. The Kohers’ biography on the fellowship website says they are inspired by Matthew 12:21 to share the hope of Christ with isolated people, which says, “In His name the nations will put their hope.”

Anne Stych is a freelance writer, copy editor, proofreader and content manager covering science, technology, retail, etc. She writes for American City Business Journals’ BizWomen. This story originally appeared at MinistryWatch.