On behalf of the entire Enke family, I would like to welcome you to the celebration of the 50 years of marriage that was bestowed upon Sieg and Ella Enke, Opa and Oma, as we in the family call them. It is a tribute to them to have each of you in this room, to share in the love of the Lord that has been their portion for these 5 decades. The past thirty-five years of their marriage have been as a witness before many of us in this room of the Love of God active as parents, as friends, as ministers, and as a fellow brother and sister in Christ. We are here to give honor to God for the faithful witness that we each have beheld in the two of them.

Bob, would you lead us in prayer at this time?

Now, starting with my Laura, our wives have something they would like to say to Oma and Opa.
 
The grandchildren have a tribute they would like to offer at this time – Jonathan – Shannon and Rebekka

Now my brother Gary would like to give an expression of love.

I would like to take a moment to share the heart that I have concerning my parents. They have always been a witness to me, to my brother, and to our family of the Love of God as the center of their marriage. Whatever we faced, as a family, was always put into the proper perspective of God’s will and God’s glory being done in our lives. They spent many, many nights covering us in prayer, trusting the Lord to see us through the turmoil of growing up. We were always certain of the fact that they both loved the Lord with all their hearts, and in His love, loved each other and us in an unfailing manner. That is not to say that they didn’t make some mistakes along the way, as we all do. But, even when they erred, they erred on the side of love for us and for each other. Their love was so fully immersed in Christ, that they had open hearts to embrace each new member of the family as it grew. Even before we were dating, they were praying that we would choose the spouses that God had appointed for us, as they had truly done. Our wives were as fully covered in love and in acceptance as if they were born in to the family, and so were our children. Oma and Opa have never ceased to pray for us, and to be the witness of a single life centered in Christ. That is something that we hope will be perpetuated in our lives as we gently move to the waning light of our time on this earth. If so, it will be in a great part because of the faithful love of God, shed upon us in Christ, through the marvelous living testimony of Oma and Opa. Thank you both from all our hearts.

We would like to thank Claudia and Jessica for so fully bringing together this exhibit of love. And we would give our gratitude to everyone of you who joined your hearts to this occasion and contributed your time, your resources, your art, your efforts, your expertise, and your love to make this a most memorable occasion.

At this time, Claudia would like to make a special presentation to the honored couple, Claudia –

Finally, this morning, the Conejo Koinonia Singers would like to share a moment of the ceremony of 50 years ago, that was the beginning of the journey of love that we celebrate today. It is the song that was sung at their wedding, and is still joyously in evidence in their consecrated life as husband and wife today.