PASTOR EDWIN H. WALDVOGEL  I am very thankful for Brother Edwin. He meant much to me and my family. He was a real Shepherd to all of us. His life and testimony will never be forgotten. It was always very comforting and assuring to know that we could come to him and ask him for advice and/or prayer. He was always very kind and would always encourage us to look to Jesus. His love for Jesus and the Word was true. He could always be depended upon to help in time of need. He was an example to us of how we can have a deeper experience with the Lord. We have been very richly blessed in many ways!! The last time I saw Brother Edwin was in the hospital in Manhattan. He was waiting for a room and had had a pretty grueling past twenty four hours. I commented that he must be in much pain, upon seeing his arms black and blue from the IV's--but he said that it didn't hurt. Then his blue eyes brightened, rather glowed, and he told me about a song that had been going over and over in his mind: "We Shall See His Lovely Face." I wasn't familiar with it, but I looked it up when I got home. We talked for a while, and I prayed for his recovery, but it seemed to me that he had gotten a glimpse of Jesus and heaven, and that's where he wanted to be. I'll never forget that time together, and it wasn't long before he got his wish. When the clouds have rifted and the shades have flown; Sorrow will be turned to joy, heartaches gone forever; No more night, only light, when we see His face. God shall wipe away all tears some bright golden morning, When the journey's ended, and the course is run; No more crying, pain or death in that home of gladness, Trials cease, all is peace, when we see His face. We shall meet to part no more, some bright golden morning, At the gates of glory where our loved ones stand; Songs of vict'ry fill the skies in that hour of greeting, Endless days, endless praise, when we see His face. A MAN OF FAITH, A MAN OF PRAYER A number of years ago, on a Friday night, while waiting for a bus to go to church, I slipped on a sheet of ice. I went down with a thud! I didn't feel then that I had hurt myself and made it to church that night. The next week I went to work and experienced no difficulties as a result of my fall on the ice. But then, the Monday of the second week, I couldn't walk except with great pain! What to do? I called Brother Edwin and asked him to pray for me, and then stayed home that week to pray and seek God's help by looking into His Word, the Bible. It was a very beneficial time for me--seeking the Lord and letting Him make changes in my heart and life. And every day Brother Edwin called to see how I was getting along. On Friday I was not any better--I could only walk with much pain--but I was going to church anyway. My dear friend Elsie Sommer picked me up and drove me to church. The first person I met as I came in the door was Brother Edwin! He asked me how I was doing, and I told him I was not any better. He smiled and said, "Well, maybe you ought to start a victory march tonight!" I looked at him in shock and thought to mself: me? Start a march? Never! Well, I got myself down the stairs somehow, and the meeting soon started. Hardly five or ten minutes had passed before Kenny Friedmann led out in singing, "We're Marching to Zion"! I couldn't believe it! That was my cue! At first I wasn't going to obey Brother Edwin's suggestion, but I thought to myself: What have I got to lose? So, I got up and started the victory march that Brother Edwin had suggested, and each time I marched around the church, the pain subsided until it was gone! After the meeting, Brother Edwin, and also Brother Kenny, laid hands on me and prayed the prayer of faith. I felt the power of God go through me! What a night! It was a night to remember! God enable me to go back to work the following week. No more pain! God is so good! And I'll be ever thankful that Brother Edwin was there to help me receive God's healing touch that I so desperately needed. The Christian’s native air, His watchword at the gates of death; He enters heaven with prayer. James Montgomery, 1818 That is hardly surprising because Dad was part of Camp from its inception. He outlived the other five with whom he searched out the site that became Pilgrim Camp, and for many years he was a Camp trustee. He helped build Camp buildings and configure Camp space, and he participated in crafting Camp’s spiritual ethos. Above all, he prayed and worked for Camp to be a place where guests and campers found spiritual renewal as well as physical rest. His long experience at Camp bridged generations of campers and offered continuity with the past coupled with enthusiasm for the future. While he thanked God for past blessings, he always expected greater things ahead. During the sixtieth anniversary season, he gave the ministry of prayer all of his strength, and he literally died praying as the season ended. We are poorer without his prayers for Pilgrim Camp. We can honor him best by stepping up to fill the gap he leaves. December 1988, one of the coldest early winters that I can remember. There already was a crusty layer of ice and snow on the ground and I was feeling the intense chills and pain of heroin withdrawal. I had been to several rehabs and hospitals for detox, and all my attempts failed. With no where to go and no other options, after spending a night alone in my car, I found myself back in a Ridgewood meeting December 4th on a Sunday night. I remember thinking about my dad because it was my father's birthday and Uncle Edwin mentioning a "renewal" that God had for those who wanted it. I don't believe anyone in that meeting needed it more than I. On the way out I shook Uncle Edwin's hand and whispered in his ear that I needed that renewal that God had. From his expression I wasn't sure he had heard me, or knew what I meant. After a few more hours of painful withdrawal passed, I made my way to the Faith Home for Monday morning prayer. I placed myself on the stairs outside the room probably ashamed of the way I looked. No one but the one who answered the door knew I was there. Through the glass doors I heard Uncle Edwin saying: "...she said she wanted that renewal, so let's pray that God will do it..." I felt overcome with gratitude and peace that those ministers and Uncle Edwin were bringing me to the throne of God. Uncle Edwin had heard me and then God heard Uncle Edwin. That was the beginning of my sobriety. After many attempts and failures, God finally answered. God did a thorough renewal, and I can happily say I have been "clean and sober" ever since! I thank God for Uncle Edwin's ministry to me. O give us Homes where Christ is Lord and Master The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung. Where prayer comes first in peace or in disaster, And praise is natural speech on every tongue. Where mountains move before a faith that’s vaster, And Christ sufficient is for old and young. Morning and evening we read the Bible and sang and praised and prayed together. If we were at home at noontime Dad read from a devotional book after lunch and had special prayer for the missionaries. We memorized numerous hymns and psalms and other Bible passages, and morning worship often ended with a group recitation of Psalm 91 or Psalm 121 before we left for school. Dad was especially partial to the German hymns, and we memorized many of them. When we started to take music lessons, Dad instituted occasional Saturday night “hymn-sings” and we took turns accompanying the singing on piano (Mom, Edith, Eddie, Grace), violin (Eddie), trumpet (Mom, Edith), accordion (Grace) and mandolin (Mom). It’s a good thing Dad liked to sing! Although I’m told that in their early days of courtship Mom taught Dad to play the trombone, I never heard him play it. He did occasionally play the piano, but very rarely. My parents always invoked the same unanswerable argument when we didn’t want to practice: You need to master your instrument so you can use it for Jesus. Dad and Mom did their best to teach us to see each opportunity in the light of God’s kingdom. Here’s an example of how Dad did that himself: When I was nearly old enough to play the piano in church, he made a deal with me. If he was home on an evening when it was my turn to wash and dry the dishes, he would do them for me if I would go to the piano and play whatever he sang. Then he would sing songs that we often used in church. In that way he provided invaluable practice in “picking up” and playing songs from memory in different keys, and he made sure I got one song right before moving on to another. I don’t remember how often we did that, but I’m forever grateful for those sessions. It was my great privilege and joy to support his ministry from the piano or organ for forty years, and along the way he taught me numerous, helpful things about accompanying and playing for services. I’m very thankful for the home in which I grew up. They say you can’t go home again, but Dad and Mom—and later Dad and Moni—preserved that familiar atmosphere of prayer and praise in their home, and when we visited we sensed the peaceful presence of God. I was at Dad’s bedside during his final hours on earth. Praise was still his natural speech, and he demonstrated even then that, indeed, Christ is sufficient for old and young. My remembrances of Brother Edwin and is first wife, Edith, go back many years to when we first started attending the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church in the 1940's. Our family attended there regularly for many years, and even when we started going to Floral Park, we continued going to Ridgewood on Friday nights and Wednesday mornings. After Brother Hans went to be with the Lord, Brother Edwin became the senior pastor, and we were richly blessed by his ministry. Our paths also crossed in Kirchheim Teck several times while visiting our relatives in Germany. After my husband died, Monika and Bro. Edwin invited me to travel with them and join them for the Pfingstkonferens in Kirchheim. What blessed memories! Then, after Brother Gardiner and Brother Bob Kalis went to be with the Lord, Brother Edwin and Moni spent the Labor Day weekends at Pilgrim Camp, and we looked forward from year to year to those meetings. Another remembrance I have and cherish is Brother Edwin's thoughtfulness each year in sending me birthday cards and regularly lending or giving me books that he thought I might enjoy--often on the mystics. I came to love and respect him more and more as time went on, and I count it a privilege to have known him and to have been under his ministry. I also count it a privilege to be at his bedside just a few hours before he went to be with the Lord. I was saddened to hear of Brother Edwin’s home going while I was at Camp. It was my privilege to be under his ministry for many years while working there. I was always blessed at how faithful he was to still minister in his latter years. He was a blessing to many and how many times we sang one of his favorite songs “Companionship with Jesus” which he wanted us to learn from memory. He exemplified this truth and will be missed. May the Lord give us His grace to follow on in the path and light that has been shown to us. We send you our deepest love and sympathy in this time of sorrow. We are so sorry that we cannot be there to personally stand with you and to comfort you. Rest assured that we shall be covering you with our prayers each day, for you are in our hearts and minds continually. Brother Edwin's life and ministry have been a benediction of grace upon our lives. We have been so enriched by his life of praise and worship and his preaching and exhortation. He has truly been a great soldier of the Cross, and it has been such a joy and privilege for us to have come to Pilgrim Camp these past years, and to minister with him. He has been a tower of strength to us all. I will always remember our Saturday evening "chats" on the phone as we prayed together, and he rehearsed his Sunday morning message with me. Those Bible studies on Acts have been a great inspiration. His whole life is so reminiscent of dear Dad Wannenmacher. When we received word that Edwin was in Glory, Lois said, "Now Edwin and Dad Wannenmacher and Uncle Hans are together again--leading worship at the throne." Edwin is now resting from his labors, but he is alive in the presence of the Lord. Hallelujah what a Savior--Hallelujah what a Life. BOWIE AND BARBARA CURRY [Brother Edwin] lived such a full, rich life in the Lord that it is difficult to be sad for very long. If anyone had an abundant entrance into glory, it was [Brother Edwin]. What a blessed and unusual testimony to serve God so faithfully for over 90 years! Only time will tell what his intercessions and wonderful preaching of the Word accomplished for the extension of Jesus' Kingdom! We all knew this time would come and hoped it would be later than sooner. He was a true pastor, and the fellowship was blessed to abide for a season under his perpetually wise leadership. Like David, he served the purpose of God in his generation. May God's peace rest upon all who are mourning. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!" CHARLES AND MARIE HOFFLANDER Our loss is heaven's gain, for Brother Edwin is with the Savior and with his loved ones--forever looking forward to our arrival. My acquaintance with Brother Edwin goes back to the 1920's when his father, Gottfried, was pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Waukegan, Illinois. However, a richer freindship developed when Brother Edwin, Karl Sailer and I traveled together from the city to prepare Pilgrim Camp for its opening in 1946. It was then and during the following years that I discovered his value as a businessman, as a dilligent worker, a godly father, and a true shepherd over God's flock. May the legacy of godliness our dear Brother Edwin left serve to inspire us to follow his example. DANIEL and FANNY TSAO Shih Lin Zion Church Tapei, Taiwan Only the eternal Savior can console you heart. Such a life, filled with God's grace, Weaving those godly and delightful years, After passing away, Into our long and sweet memory. To witness to the descendant generations The goodness and power of our gracious Lord. Although we know and have deep confidence that Dear Brother Edwin is now with the Lord he loved for many years, The feeling of great loss will still encompass us After the funeral. But we also have deep confidence that We shall have a deeper place in Him prepared for us by Jesus, That we might gain from this loss An eternal peace and exceeding joy and excelling love. Oh, please forgive us our tears When you enter into the Glory; Please forgive us our frustration When you step into the parade of joyful welcoming angels; And still forgive us our sadness When you are now face to face to see His fadeless Light. Dear Brother and Reverend Edwin, You only walked some more steps farther than us. In some glorious morn You will wait by the gate of pearl for us. EDWIN AND INGEBORG JUNG Mit Bedauern erfuhren wir gestern, dass Bruder Edwin heimgegangen ist. Er is uns in guter Erinnerung, ob bei Eurem Besuch in Salzburg, oder also wir bei Euch in NY waren. So tut es uns sehr leid, ihn nicht mehr hier sehen zu koennen. Aber in Allem duerfen wir getrost sein, dass Er jetzt am Ziel seines Lebens angelangt ist. Er darf das schauen, was er sein ganzes Leben geglaubt hat. Wir wuenschen Euch jedoch viel Gnade and Trost unseres Heilandes Jesus Christus. Er steht Euch bei und wird die Luecke fuellen. Er ist ein wunderbarer Herr. In Seinem Segen duerft Ihr Euch getragen wissen. Mit herzlichen Gruessen und dem Trost Gottes. KLAUS AND MARTHA WINTER (On behalf of Father Betschel, the Ludwig Bokan Family And the churches in the Salzburg area) Although we all know that he has reached the goal, to say farewell is not easy. We want to assure you our deepest sympathy, and we pray our dear Lord will comfort you and hide you in His blessings during the next days and the time to come. God has blessed Brother Edwin with a long life, and he has been a living testimony for a dedicated and holy life with Christ. in this case he had been a challenging example, not only for you as well also for us in Austria. The fruit of his ministry will go on, and we pray that a voice like his will continue to preach Christ as a living savior and to glorify Jesus. ERIC RODKO For the past several years, on Labor Day weekend, usually during one of his sermons, Brother Edwin would pause to ask the rhetorical question of why God had allowed him to live so long. Sometimes he would ask this question openly in the context of discussing his decision to follow through on having risky heart surgery a decade ago, which he admits he did for the sake of his family and the sake of the ministry. Regardless of the context of the question, right away, Brother Edwin would always provide the same answer, along with a hearty chuckle, saying… “I guess I’m like a ripening fruit that God chooses to simply leave on the tree, hoping that I’ll get sweeter still. Oh…I don’t know if that’s true. But you know…the longer you live with Jesus, life does grow sweeter all the time!” I missed hearing Brother Edwin say that this Labor Day weekend, as he was not well enough to come to Pilgrim Camp at all this summer. So, today, upon the news of his being called home with the Lord, I can’t help but reflect on how much this man has meant to me. And I shudder to think of where I might have of ended up spiritually if God had not brought Brother Edwin into my life. Despite the fact that I have been coming to Pilgrim Camp since I was in diapers, I first met Brother Edwin while traveling to Riga, Latvia, in March of 1995, with my mother, Lydia. While waiting for a connecting flight from New York to Riga, at a Lufthansa terminal, in Munich, Germany, my mother recognized Brother Eddie Waldvogel standing on the other side of the waiting area. She wasn’t sure it was Brother Eddie at first, but when she saw Brother Edwin sitting beside where he was standing, she was certain it was the two of them. My mother went over and said hello, and before long I was being introduced for the first time to both Brother Eddie and Brother Edwin, as well as Matt and Jeff Waldvogel, Brother Eddie’s sons, who all were waiting for a connecting flight back to New York after attending meetings in Kirchheim. Our conversations could not have lasted more than fifteen minutes before Mom and I finally had to board for our flight to Riga. The meeting stirred our hearts, because it had been almost twelve years since Mom and I had last visited Pilgrim Camp, the last year I had been a camper in Nonantum. So, we thought it amazing that we would “bump into” people we knew from the Ridgewood Fellowship in the same airport terminal, hundreds of miles from home. This “chance” meeting then became a regular topic of discussion between my mother and myself for the next year, not just because of the “odd” circumstances, but because I immediately began to long for my Christian roots. Heaven was hounding after me. At the point that I was introduced to Brother Edwin, I had not only been away from Pilgrim Camp for twelve years, but I had also been away from God. I completed my Master’s degree and my special project in May of 1995, the summer came and went, I failed to return to Pilgrim Camp, and I slipped further into spiritual darkness. Then, in the spring of 1996, “something” struck my heart and I had such a yearning to return to Pilgrim Camp for a retreat that next summer. Both my Mom and I had new jobs, but we were able to arrange for one week of vacation at Pilgrim Camp that summer in August. Not knowing who the minister would be that week, we were happy to hear upon our arrival at Pilgrim Camp that Brother Edwin was the minister. For the first few days, I struggled to get “into” the services…the singing, the praying, the testifying…the worship. My heart was hardened, but at the same time I feared leaving Pilgrim Camp not having been able to reconnect with God. Then, just before walking into the evening service on our last night at Camp, I was kneeling at my bedside while meditating with my Bible wide open to no specifically chosen book or page, and God gave me Psalm 13 to read…to testify on. I didn’t know what I was going to say after reading, so I just simply asked God to give me the chance to read the Psalm in service and then to give me the words I needed at the right moment. That evening, Brother Edwin gave a wonderful sermon on forgiveness. He spoke to the need for us, as Christians, to forgive those who wrong us, despite whatever circumstances befall us. He gave an analogy about palm trees in Taiwan. Brother Edwin said he liked palm trees because no matter how harsh the winds are during a tropical storm, they never snap or break. He added that we as Christians must be able to bend like palm trees, forgiving those who persecute us, if we are able to withstand the storms of life. Despite the simple analogy, this was lifesaving sermon for me. As soon as Brother Edwin concluded his sermon, Brother Robert Costanza stepped up to the lectern and sang the hymn….“Amazing Love.” At the conclusion of that song, I stood up to read Psalm 13, testified, and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal Savior. Aside from our chance meeting in a Lufthansa terminal in Germany, I wonder how many others have a similar testimony that involves the life and ministry of Brother Edwin. A few summers ago at Pilgrim Camp, during a “meal” off from working in the kitchen, I entered the Watch Rock dining hall in the Palace and sat down in the empty seat next to Brother Edwin. I had begun to admire him, and so I wanted to seize the opportunity to get to know him better. To strike up a conversation, I asked Brother Edwin about the man he referred to in the morning service, a brother from Ridgewood who had just been mugged and seriously hurt. Brother Edwin looked up at me and said…. “That’s a military secret!”, and he went back to eating his food quietly. I sat there, stunned, saying to myself… “I am never going to sit at this table again!” A few moments went by, and Brother Edwin must have noticed that all the color had drained from my face, because he gently leaned over, placed his hand on my arm and whispered…. “I can’t say anything right now about that, his sister is sitting right behind you, and I don’t think she’s knows yet.” I think this moment captured the essence of Brother Edwin….one second showing a firm and tough exterior, being guarded as a minister, and the next second showing great gentleness and sensitivity…or should I say his “sweet” personality. I’m happy to say that a good conversation finally did develop during that meal, and I felt more and more comfortable approaching Brother Edwin from that day forward. I also have since returned many times to eat at the minister’s table. My relating to Brother Edwin resulted in my having the great privilege of interviewing him for hours in his home as he helped me compile the material for the book…“A Vine Grows in Brooklyn”, which also testifies to the man and the minister he was. Although for only a brief time, I am glad I got to know the man on the inside, not just on the outside. Brother Edwin was a dedicated minister of the Gospel and hard working bondservant throughout his entire life, and a man who could humbly admit himself that he made mistakes and that he was not perfect. Still, he was also a man who dearly adored and treasured his wife, his family, and loved the fellowship of his brethren, from childhood to the present. Even as he approached the age of 90, Brother Edwin still wept when he talked about the fact that his mother, as she was dying, told him to not come home from South Africa, so he would fulfill his commitment and responsibilities to the mission there. She died before he could return home. Brother Edwin was a man who you knew put God’s will and his ministry first in his life, and many times at great self sacrifice. Many were saddened when it became apparent in August that Brother Edwin was most likely not going to be physically able to attend the Pilgrim Camp’s 60th Anniversary celebration. The times for such gatherings of those who have been involved with the Ridgewood Fellowship and Pilgrim Camp since the earliest days are now probably gone. But, the celebration wasn’t about Brother Edwin, or even about the Ridgewood Fellowship itself. The celebration was about preserving the special Biblical teachings that have been given by God to many vessels within the Ridgewood Fellowship over the decades, vessels such as Hans Waldvogel, Gottfreid Waldvogel, Gordon Gardiner and Edwin H. Waldvogel, and many, many others. The 60th Anniversary celebration and Labor Day services this year (Oh, the indescribable meetings!) were about unity in seeking Jesus Christ. Brother Edwin was one special vessel who tirelessly gave himself to a worldwide ministry that has ultimately led thousands to Christ, but also a ministry that has provided tens of thousands of people the opportunity to come together to seek and worship God in a glorious and unified way. Brother Edwin’s ministry will undoubtedly continue on to bear much sweet fruit as it did this past entire summer. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Psalm 133:1. The Lord gave me this verse at the beginning of the year, and I thought it was a verse that would simply help inspire those of us who were coming together to work in the kitchen this summer. However, as the season went on, according to Brother Eddie, this entire Psalm actually kept resurfacing in special ways in the meetings. Then, at the end of the summer, we witnessed such a strong and powerful manifestation of this verse during the 60th Anniversary celebrations, as some came together again, if not for the last time, just to seek Jesus and praise God. All those who attended the services at Pilgrim Camp these past two weekends were blessed by one of the “sweetest” fruits of Brother Edwin’s lifelong ministry, the founding of Pilgrim Camp…a special place for unified Christian worship, which we all need now truly more than ever before. In my heart, I have the sense that since Brother Edwin knew he would not have the strength or the stamina to attend these special days and meetings at Pilgrim Camp towards the end of summer, that he sought God’s strength if merely enough to hold on and pray us all through to the finish of this blessed season of seasons. I believe his prayers were answered. The strong spirit of fellowship and unity of the 60th Anniversary weekend carried right into and through Labor Day weekend. Many were so happy that Brother Robert Graber and Brother Eddie stood in so wonderfully for Brother Edwin this past week, but we were also inspired because we knew that while Brother Eddie ministered to us and celebrated with us, he longed to be with his father. In my heart, I know that Brother Edwin wanted it to be this way, just as his own mother did. And so, as sad as I am today, for Sister Monika, the entire Waldvogel family, the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church and all who knew Brother Edwin, I must admit that I cannot think of a more befitting day for Brother Edwin to be called home to Heaven on, for Brother Edwin’s earthly labors to end on...Labor Day…the very last day of the official Pilgrim Camp season. So, I leave you with the verse that Brother Edwin gave to me at my water baptism at Pilgrim Camp in 1998…. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:58 I treasure this verse, not just because it is a great verse to live by, but also because this verse best reflects the life of dear sweet Brother Edwin. Wunderbar! If you would like to express a tribute or testimony to Brother Edwin, please email it--or send by regular mail to Paul Munsinger . 92 Lawrence Street . New Hyde Park, NY 11040 Return to EHW Memorial Page Page |