Even before the merger of October 1908, the parental bodies of the Church of the Nazarene had a vision to be an international denomination. International expansion began in India in 1898 by missionaries sponsored by the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America.[44] By 1908, there were churches in Canada and organized work in India, Eswatini, Cape Verde, and Japan, soon followed by work in central Africa, Mexico, and China. The 1915 mergers added congregations in the British Isles and work in Cuba, Central America, and South America. There were congregations in Syria and Palestine by 1922. General Superintendent Reynolds advocated "a mission to the world", and support for world evangelization became a distinguishing characteristic of Nazarene life. Taking advantage of new technologies, the church began producing the Showers of Blessing radio program in the 1940s, followed by the Spanish broadcast La Hora Nazarena and later by broadcasts in other languages. From the 1940s through the 1980s, indigenous holiness churches in other countries continued to join the church. At the time of the 50th anniversary of the denomination in October 1958, a total of 19.8% of all Nazarenes lived outside the continental United States.[45] In 1981 the figure was 28.3%.[46] In late 1991 there were one million members of the denomination globally, with 43% living outside the US.[47] By 2000 the church's membership was just under 1.4 million, with the church's membership outside the US doubling in the previous decade, and now comprising 53% of total global church membership.[47] In June 2009 64 percent of Nazarene members and 80 percent of the church's then 429 districts were outside the United States.[48][49] By September 2016 church membership outside USA had reached 1,844,742 or almost 75% of the total global church membership of 2,471,553, with 398 (84.5%) of the denomination's 471 districts located outside USA. In 2016 over 27% of Nazarenes were in the Africa region,[18] and more than 20% Nazarenes spoke Spanish as their first language.[50] In 2017, the church was located in 162 "world areas" (approximately equivalent to nations).[51][52] For a map illustrating both the world areas and regions of the Church of the Nazarene, see the Nazarene.org website.[53] At the February 2012 annual meeting of the General Board, it was decided that the denomination would enter the following new nations: South Sudan (Africa Region), Turks and Caicos (Mesoamerica Region); and a tenth "Creative Access Area", thus increasing to 159 the world areas entered.[54] At the February 2017 General Board meeting it was announced that the Church of the Nazarene is now in 162 world areas, adding Singapore, Mongolia, and Curaçao. Each week Nazarenes worship in more than 212 languages or tribal languages, with literature produced in 90 of these.[7] The Church of the Nazarene reaches out to persons around the globe through the Internet, radio broadcasts in 33 languages, and video and printed materials in 95 languages.[7] In 2010, 286 books were produced in 59 languages for pastoral training and holiness, and World Mission Broadcast aired 140 radio broadcasts in 72 countries and 36 languages.[55]  

International growth