Thomas J. Arnold
Thomas J. Arnold (18 July 1864 – 20 August 1906)[2] was an English Protestant missionary to China in the late nineteenth century during the Qing Dynasty.[3] Soon after discussing this call with his pastor he sailed for the China frontier with his colleague, William Remfry Hunt, in September 1889.Arnold recognized the first major task in sharing the Christian faith with the Chinese was scaling the language barrier.During this arduous education process there must have been times when he questioned leaving London and a hopeful career as a skilled architect.He traveled thousands of miles on foot and by boat on itineraries where he would preach and sell Bibles and gospel tracts on the road.He worked at many of the large missionary stations and outstations in Nanjing, Luhe, Wuhu, Chuzhou, Wuwei, and Fengyangfu and occasionally encountered hostility and persecution.During March 1892, Arnold worked in the village of Lieu Chang Hiew, which had not seen a foreign missionary in over ten years.After filling in temporarily at the hospital, Arnold continued to preach in the villages of Luh Hoh, Sing Tszi, and Kei Keao Ying where he also opened the first boys' school.Occasionally the local Chinese referred to her as a "foreign devil"; however she found them to be generally friendly and built more friendships with them.Mr. Arnold then spent several months overseeing the boys' school in Nanking, until he was able to return to a more permanent position at Wuhu in 1901.There was also a large increase in the number of natives interested in the church, however, some of these inquiries desired only to reap the benefits of being associated with the Christians.Arnold eventually died of a disease known as sprue, which slowly crept upon him, and which Elizabeth believed was a result of living in unsanitary conditions during many of his long journeys.