One Life:

Christ, the Father’s only begotten, glory of heaven above--
He surrendered the worship of angels, risking eternal loss.
Counting nothing too dear, too precious, He poured out all in love,
And he humbled himself as a servant--even the rugged cross.

Precious gift of life I’ve been given, how to live it I must choose--
Shall I spend it on things soon passing? In place of eternity?
Shall I live it for something better? A reward I cannot lose?
When I see His perfect example, I know what the choice will be.

Father, you have given me one life
And that life I will live for you.
Keep me faithful and always true 
A living sacrifice.

(Jennita Ruud, 2026) 

While I did not know Janelle personally, Daniel Lui was a classmate of mine and my husband’s college roommate for some time. After college, our ways parted. I married and went to serve as a missionary in Honduras, while Daniel completed the needed training and went to serve as a mission pilot with PAMAS in the Philippines. We never knew that March 1, 2023, would be his last flight. Together with Janelle, a missionary nurse, he had answered a call to evacuate a patient. The helicopter disappeared from radar and was never found, except for a few articles that had been on the helicopter. For Daniel, it was his normal, his life, his mission, his passion. He died doing what he loved, and I have no doubt that we will see him in the morning. He was a powerful encouragement for me to enter mission work, and this poem tribute was inspired by his motto: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” (C.T. Studd)