The church sent its first foreign missionaries to China in the early 1800s.
In 1966 all foreign missionaries were forced to leave the country.
There were a large number of foreign missionaries operating in the country.
Much secondary level education was in the hands of foreign missionaries.
Limited numbers of young foreign missionaries were allowed to serve there beginning about the late 1990s.
Foreign missionaries, or more recently, international partners, share the church's witness around the world.
There were close to 1,500 registered foreign missionaries in the country, most of them Christian.
In 1964 all foreign missionaries were made to leave southern Sudan because of the civil war.
There were some foreign missionaries, although the extent of their activities was unknown.
Some foreign missionaries continue to work in the country.