Thomas J. Arnold (18 July 1864 – 20 August 1906) was an English Protestant missionary to China in the late nineteenth century during the Qing Dynasty.
Decision to go to China
As a young man in London he felt beckoned to missionary service after experiencing an enlightening sermon at the West London Tabernacle Church.
Soon after discussing this call with his pastor he sailed for the China frontier with his colleague, William Remfry Hunt, in September 1889. The two young men had built up a close friendship when they studied diligently together at W. L. Moore Bible Institute.
Preparation
Arnold recognized the first major task in sharing the Christian faith with the Chinese was scaling the language barrier. He began this critical task in the city of Nanjing. Here he immersed himself in the Chinese language and culture for two years. During this arduous education process there must have been times when he questioned leaving London and a hopeful career as a skilled architect. Yet, in the developing missionary colony his architectural skills were also put to work. He designed and supervised the construction of several missionary houses, schools where thousands of students were educated, and a hospital that saw tens of thousands of patients.
Early work
Along with language study, Arnold also tried to blend in with the natives by using Chinese dress and wearing a queue hairpiece. 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 also helped to train other missionaries in this method of itinerant evangelism. 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. He also took itinerant trips to Nanjing and the surrounding areas with A. F. H. Saw, E. P. Hearnden, and E. T. Williams. During these trips, he would sell books and preach.
Arnold married Elizabeth Ince (1863-1950), who was also a missionary. Her study, like that of all early missionaries was with a private language teacher, as there was no language school available. Further accentuating the difficulty of learning the language was the inability of most language teachers to speak English.
During March 1892, Arnold worked in the village of Lieu Chang Hiew, which had not seen a foreign missionary in over ten years. He also worked with the town of Ta Tsung Chao. At first, the people in this village were suspicious of him, but soon became more open and friendly. Arnold had a gift for making people feel comfortable. During this year, he also filled in as a doctor. Although he never received any formal training in medicine, he often received hundreds of patients and did what he could to relieve their suffering. This commitment to helping people in a practical sense drew positive attention from some of the upper class Chinese as well. 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. He often took these trips with his friend and colleague Dr. Butchart. Dr. Butchart was also the man who gave Mr. Arnold some of his instruction on medicine.
Elizabeth's first station after their marriage was in Luh Hoh. Their first house opened right out into the main street and had a courtyard, several main rooms and guest rooms, and a chapel. In order to dispel mistrust and prejudice against foreigners from the locals, Elizabeth allowed the local women to examine the contents of all her belongings. Thomas and Elizabeth were the first missionaries to move into the village of Luh-Hoh. While Arnold had made several trips there before, Elizabeth was the first Caucasian woman they had seen. Elizabeth, like her husband wore a native garment to blend in. 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. The Arnolds also ministered in Wuhu and Thomas Arnold and worked diligently at attempting to open the village of Lu-chou-fu with his colleague Dr. Butchart. This meant that Elizabeth was alone with their small children; however she remarks that she did not fear because "all the Chinese were her friends."