Vergil E. Wolf collection

Vergil Wolf grew up on his family farm in Central Ohio where he regularly attended church. Wolf married Helen Ager in November 1944 and one year later at the age of twenty-three, he enlisted in the Navy. On a ship in the Marshal Islands he met Officer R.J. Epps who convinced Wolf to start going to their weekly Bible classes and eventually rededicate his life to the Lord. At the General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama, Wolf was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

After a Sunday night worship service in 1946, Vergil felt called to the mission field, specifically in Cuba. He began attending Lee College in 1947 in order to receive missionary training. After graduating, he attended the United Brethren College in Ashland, Ohio from 1949 to 1951 where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Studies. While attending, Wolf began pastoring and continued to Pastor after graduating. At the general assembly in 1952, Vergil Wolf heard his true calling from the Lord to be a missionary to Guatemala, not Cuba as he thought. Later at the same assembly, Paul H. Walker was announced as the new secretary of Church of God World Missions. Wolf continued to pastor various churches and attended San Antonia International Preparatory Institute in Arizona around where he was introduced to Hispanic culture. After the General Assembly in August, 1954 Wolf and his wife worked with Apolinar Castro and Sister Mary W. Atkinson in Douglas, Arizona and northwestern Mexico.

While attending school in Arizona in the fall of 1956, Wolf was invited to the national youth convention in Quiché, Guatemala with Brother Thomas Pullin and Bro. William R. McCall. In 1957, Wolf would return for a second trip to Guatemala, this time with his wife and children. On this second trip they spent time in Mexico, Belize, and Panama. Finally, Vergil Wolf was officially appointed to Guatemala by the Church of God.

In Guatemala, Wolf preached, taught, and spread the gospel while doing all he could do to help the local community. Most of his time was spent building and preparing a Bible school starting in 1961 when he bought the first lot for $400. The school had their first graduation in 1966, the same year Wolf replaced Paul Marley as Territorial Overseer of the region. From 1968 to 1978 Wolf continued his missionary work in Costa Rica where he helped build a Bible School and other construction projects.

At the General Assembly in 1978 Vergil Wolf requested to be transferred from foreign missions to home missions, but found no opening. Wolf shifted his focus towards ministering to American Indians and after his retirement became involved in prison ministry with his brother, Raymond, and the Hispanic ministry. He wrote his autobiography titled “Real Life of a Missionary.” Vergil Wolf went to be with the Lord on April 5, 2016 following a brief illness.

Timeline 1922 Born September 11th 1944 Marries Helen Ager 1944 Enlists in U.S. Navy (January) 1946 Called to the mission field 1947 Attends Bob Jones College in Cleveland, TN 1949 Graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Studies 1950 Starts Pastoring at Mansfield, OH Church of God (October) 1952 Promoted to District Overseer 1953 Attends San Antonia National Preparatory Institute 1955 Starts Pastoring at Spanish Church of God in Douglas Arizona 1956 Arrives in Quiché, Guatemala 1956 Arrives in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 1957 Arrives in Quezaltenango, Guatemala 1957 Bible School in Colén, Panama built 1966 Wolf replaces Paul Marley as Territorial Overseer 1968 Called to Costa Rica 1978 Called to American Indians 1978 Wolf becomes Northern. Ohio's State Missions Representative 1996 Begins Prison Ministry with his brother

SOURCES: Vergil E. Wolf Helen Wolf