In 1895, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod began mission work in India — the first foreign mission field in the Synod’s history. Over the ensuing decades, the LCMS invested human and financial resources in developing a total Christian ministry of congregations, pastoral training, lay training, school education and human-care ministries. The India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) became an LCMS sister/partner church in 1959. It also is a member of the International Lutheran Council. A large LCMS missionary presence continued until the 1980s. The last full-time LCMS career missionary retired from service in 2003. Nevertheless, the LCMS has continued to offer support for the IELC in these and other areas: complementary funding for church planting, schools, hospitals and other institutions; disaster-relief work (e.g., tsunami relief); theological education through support for Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil; and complementary funding of theological conferences, scholarships and stipends for vicars.