Rudolf Alfred Bosshardt

Alfred Bosshardt
Born	1 January 1897 Manchester, England, U.K.
Died	6 November 1993; Age 96 Pembury, England, U.K.
Spouse	Rose Piaget

Rudolf Alfred Bosshardt (1 January 1897 – 6 November 1993) was a Protestant Christian missionary in China. He served with the China Inland Mission. He was born of Swiss parents in Manchester and was accepted for training by the China Inland Mission in 1920. Within two years he departed for China and was assigned to work in Guizhou province. He was married to Rose Piaget (1894-1965) in Guiyang in June 1931. On 1 October 1934, exactly 12 years after he had left for China, while returning from a prayer conference with Rose and several other missionaries they were captured by soldiers of the Red Army led by general Xiao Ke. Rose was later released but he and a fellow missionary were forced to join the Red Army on the weary trek which became known as the Long March. He trudged 2500 miles during the 18 months of captivity. He was released on Easter morning 1936 after 560 days of captivity. The book "The Restraining Hand" tells the story of this captivity. General Xiao Ke had translated Alfred's book " The guiding hand" into Chinese in 1989 calling it the most accurate story on the Long March ever written by any foreigner. Being restored to health in Europe and doing many speaking engagements he returned to China in 1940 until, like many foreign missionaries, he and Rose were expelled from China in 1951. They went on to work in Loas among the many Chinese in Laos. Following Rose's death in 1965, he returned and settled in Manchester in 1966, still opening his house to Chinese students. There he continued a fruitful ministry to the Chinese and was a founder-member of the Manchester Chinese Christian Church, while remaining a faithful member of Union Hall Evangelical Church. The longest mile was his last mile which he spent in a house of retired missionaries of the C.I.M. in Pembury, Turnbridge Wells, Kent. He died at the age of 96 of bronchitis in his room at Cornford House.

Bibliography

• R. A. Bosshardt, The Restraining Hand: Captivity for Christ in China (1936)
• R. A. Boßhardt: Im Schatten des Allmächtigen. Erlebnisse des Missionars R. A. Boßhardt in der Gefangenschaft der Roten. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Dr. Ernst Witt. Bad Liebenzell: Buchhandlung der Liebenzeller Mission 1937 (156 S., einige Abb. auf Bildtafeln)
• R. A. Bosshardt, with Gwen and Edward England, The Guiding hand: Captivity and Answered Prayer in China (1973)
• Leslie T. Lyall, A Passion far the Impossible: The Continuing Story of the Mission Hudson Taylor Began (2d ed., 1976), chap. 3
• Harrison Salisbury, The Long March: The Untold Story (1985)
• Jean Watson, Bosshardt: A Biography (1995)
• The Guardian, November 8, 1993 (obit.)
• The Guardian, November 27, 2008.

Further reading

• Historical Bibliography of the China Inland Mission

See also

• List of China Inland Mission missionaries in China