Denied Entry into India - OCT 2025

My last post ended with a brief paragraph describing Joel Krafft and my upcoming visit to India. Our travels were right on schedule, and we met each other just before the immigration line formed. We shared a quick greeting and got in line, eager to get through immigration, grab our luggage, clear customs, and get to our hotel for a good night's sleep before a busy schedule of a pastoral conference, meetings, and district visits kicked off the next day.

As many of you know, I have been waiting for nearly six years to return to India after my visa was revoked and I was denied entry in January of 2020. A few months ago, I applied for and was granted a new 5-year visa. I can't even tell you how excited I was, thinking that the door was open for me to visit India again!

Unfortunately, I was denied entry again. It's a long story (if you want to hear the fun details, give me a call), but when I handed over my passport and visa to the immigration officer, he scanned them and began studying his computer screen. He then asked me what my purpose was in visiting and why I was denied entry in 2020. I told him that I came to visit friends, and I wasn't given a reason in 202. He then went to the office of the Chief Immigration Officer, who then came to the window and asked me to come with him. In his office, there were lots of questions, a search through my carry-on luggage, and a demand that I unlock and hand over my phone or be arrested, telling me that Indian immigration laws grant him permission to inspect all my personal items. A couple of hours later, both Joel and I were informed that we were denied entry into India and that we were being deported immediately. No definitive answers were given as to the reason. Joel had actually cleared immigration but decided to wait outside the immigration officer's office to see what was happening with me. When they realized he was traveling with me, they denied him entry as well. As Joel put it, with a grin on his face, "My only crime was being associated with Todd Ohlmann."

Because Joel was booked on a round-trip itinerary, the airline was able to quickly change his flights back to the U.S. for later that evening. I was required to return to the last airport I had flown through, and since I had arrived on a one-way Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Kathmandu with a layover in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I had to return to the last airport I had traveled through. Unfortunately, there aren't many direct flights back to the U.S. from Sri Lanka. I waited through the night at the Chennai, India, airport until I was escorted to my 10:00 am flight to Colombo, only to wait another 10+ hours there for a flight to Abu Dhabi with a 4+ hour layover before a flight to Chicago and then home to St. Louis. I arrived home yesterday (Oct. 22) afternoon, exhausted but very thankful to be home. 

The reality is that I may never have the chance to visit India again, and this weighs heavily on me. To be honest, the thought of not being able to see, work alongside, and spend time with my dear Christian brothers and sisters, as well as fellow kingdom workers whom I have known and grown close to over the past 28 years since my first trip to India, breaks my heart. 

All of this is rather disappointing, discouraging, frustrating, and sad. And yet, I can rejoice, knowing that while Satan thinks he may have prevailed, God's will is always good, gracious, and merciful! While I don't understand or know the reason why this door has been closed to me, I trust the One who closed it! God's plans are perfect, and His ways are always love. And because of the great love He demonstrated on the cross, we can be confident that this, too, will work out for the good of those whom He has called into faith in Jesus Christ according to His good pleasure!

I've been in contact with the pastors and leaders of the CLCI and BELC as they met for the conference this week. While they, too, are disappointed that Joel and I were not able to attend, they gathered around the firm foundation of God's saving word that serves as the basis for the fellowship they are sharing this week. Pray for them and thank the Lord for their zeal and courage in continuing to spread the Good News of our Savior, Jesus, even though they face increasing persecution for their Christian witness. 

Nepal - OCT 2025

I've grown accustomed to (or at least I'm not as frustrated by) the fact that things don't always work out according to my plan. This visit to Nepal and the things we had scheduled have been on the calendar for about a year. I schedule my visits to Nepal in the late fall to avoid the monsoon season that typically runs from July to September. Most years, an October arrival should have been OK. But this year, Nepal experienced an unprecedented late monsoon during the first few days of my visit that brought everything to a halt and claimed the lives of over 50 Nepalis. I've never seen it rain so hard and for such a long period of time here in Nepal. It rained constantly for 48 hours in Kathmandu. Everything pretty much shuts down when it rains so hard. That meant sitting and waiting rather than traveling from Kathmandu to Chitwan, where most of the activities were to take place as we had planned. The heavy rains here cause landslides and the potential for life-threatening landslides and floods on many of the roads that pass through the Himalayan foothills. The rains were especially heavy in the areas where Raju and I were to travel, and the roads and footpaths that many of the pastors and students of the Himalayan CLC of Nepal (HCLCN) needed to traverse to make it to the pastor training seminar we had scheduled and the Himalayan Bible Institute (HBI) graduation. The roads from Kathmandu to Chitwan were impassable in several places due to major landslides, and many areas prone to landslides were closed to keep everyone safe. 

Long story short...our plans had to be changed, and there was a lot of downtime since we just couldn't travel to the places we were scheduled to visit. We did manage to have an abbreviated pastor conference with many of the HCLCN pastors who braved the dangerous roads. And we were able to conduct the HBI graduation with all fourteen graduates, their families, and some of the members of their home congregations able to attend! This was the 5th graduation of the HBI. The Lord has been and continues to be doing amazing things here. 

The necessary schedule changes provided a few days of downtime that allowed us to travel to the West for a couple of days, where the rains and thus landslides were not an issue. Raju has been wanting to take me to Mustang District to show me some fantastic views of the Himalaya for many years, but we've never had the time. 

Spokesman for the HBI Class of 2025 receiving his diploma

2025 HBI Graduates and Instructors

While I don't appreciate and rarely understand why things don't always work out according to my plans, I have come to realize more and more with each passing year that God's constantly working to bring His good, gracious, and merciful plans to fruition. And, all things do indeed work out for the good of those He has called according to His good purpose! That is certainly evident here in Nepal among the hardworking and dedicated laborers in our Savior's Nepali harvest fields. 

When I first received an email from some guy in Nepal named Raju some 18 years ago asking, "Can you come to Nepal and help us train pastors?" I can honestly say that I didn't think too much of it. The CLC was receiving lots of inquiries from several places around the world at that time. It was my job to respond to each one on behalf of the CLC Board of Missions. I sent a quick reply with my typical form letter, asking several questions and stressing the importance of the truth of God's saving word in all that we do, with an invitation to study God's word together via online theological correspondence courses. I was thinking that this inquiry would go the way most do and probably wouldn't turn into anything more than a request for financial support. But oh boy, was I wrong, and thankfully so! Over these past several years, the Lord has blessed the Gospel ministry in Nepal as none would have expected! Knowing our Savior's desire for all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, I'm not sure why this surprises me, but as I look back at what He has accomplished, I am amazed! 

After a couple of years of correspondence, a colloquy with Raju and his father, and several visits, Raju came to the U.S. to attend 3 years at our Immanuel Lutheran Seminary. He returned to Nepal in the spring of 2015 after the earthquake and started the Himalayan Bible Institute. In the past ten years, 42 men have completed the two-year training course and are now serving faithfully as pastors, evangelists, and church leaders as they spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in a nation that is less than 2% Christian. Who would have thought that, eighteen years ago, a simple email from Nepal and a form letter reply would blossom into such an amazing opportunity and privilege to assist with our Savior's Great Commission in such a far-flung region of the world? Praise the Lord for giving us, the CLC, the privilege of being a part of the Nepali harvest! 

A recent census indicates that there are approximately 500,000 Christians out of roughly 30 million Nepalis. Some estimate that there may be as many as 1 to 2 million Christians, but many are afraid to admit it for fear of persecution. That's a lot, but it also means that there is still a lot of work to be done. The work of spreading the Gospel is not easy here. There are many challenges. The terrain and dangerous travel make it difficult to reach many parts of Nepal. There is a growing resistance to Christianity, with Hindu Nationalism on the rise. And Anti-conversion laws are always a potential for trouble for anyone proclaiming the Gospel. Praise the Lord for His love, protection, and blessings on the faithful pastors, leaders, and members of the HCLCN who continue to shine the light of Jesus in Nepal.

I leave for India tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 20). It's been almost six years since my India visa was revoked. I'm excited and eager to return to see my dear brothers and sisters and fellow servants of our Savior. If all goes according to plan, I will meet Mr. Joel Krafft (chairman of the CLC Board of Missions) at the airport in Chennai. We will spend a little more than a week attending the BELC/CLCI joint pastoral conference, meeting with the leaders of each church body to discuss their ministry opportunities and needs, visiting a couple of districts of the BELC, and reviewing proposed plans for a building project to replace the dilapidated BELC headquarters and Bible institute. 

Your prayers of thanksgiving for a good visit to Nepal, His blessings of safe and uneventful travels, and successful passage through immigration in India are requested and much appreciated.

The Annapurna Range from the Mustang District

JB, Rama, Sanju, Raju, and a nobody at the 5th HBI Graduation