July 6, 2012
Artifact: Chinese Dragon Mask
Size: 11 inches in diameter, overall height 10 inches
Date: pre-1961
Significance: Given to CHI by the Synod’s mission board, this mask was most likely brought back by a missionary on furlough. Mission work in China reaches a big milestone this year – 100 years! It was in July 1912 that the first missionary to China, Eduard L. Arndt, was commissioned.
About Rev. Arndt’s Early Mission Work in China: Eduard Louis Arndt (b. 1864) was the instigator behind Missouri Synod mission work in China. He organized a mission society for China and raised funds for himself and his family to travel there. Arndt began his mission work in Hankow in 1913. The Missouri Synod took over this mission work in 1917. During those first four years Arndt had opened five schools and two chapels in Hankow. The mission grew with the Synod’s support in the following years, adding numerous mission stations further inland, including medical missions. Arndt continue as a missionary in China until his death in Hankow in 1929.
The photo at the right is of Arndt in front of the missionary dwelling in the German Concession of Hankow, June 1914.
