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As many of you know, I have been waiting for nearly six years to return to India after my visa was revoked and I was denied entry in January of 2020.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.