Introduction

Since the beginning of time, man has looked to the stars for answers. He has dreamed of exploring the vast unknown of space and wondered what he’d find out there.

On September 16^th, 1962, the young president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, challenged his country to put a man into space and onto the moon. He also challenged them to do it within the decade.

For those that are too young to remember or are fuzzy on the details, this was crazy talk. America was failing in its pursuit to beat Russia in the famous “space race.” The Russians, who America was on the brink of war with, had put the first man in space over a year earlier on April 12^th, 1961.

Sure, America followed Russia into space a month later, but to reach the moon? Within the decade? This was IMPOSSIBLE.

NASA, and its team, was struggling. They were blowing up more rockets than anything else. To reach the moon, they’d need a miracle.

Over the next seven years, NASA would string together hundreds and thousands of miracles to accomplish their mission of putting a man on the moon.

The subplots that weave throughout the history of that decade are fascinating. Combine that with the future of space travel, and you have a story that provokes wonder.

During the 1960s, NASA and a group of brave astronauts answered the challenge of their president, and their story still inspires us today.

JFK’s challenge was not unlike the challenge issued by Jesus to His disciples,

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This mission was just as impossible as NASA’s.

I’m sure the disciples were overwhelmed at the mission handed to them. The entire world? All the nations?

This was their impossible mission, and it is the impossible mission we still are challenged by today.

In this book, we’ll look at what we can learn, as Christians, from NASA’s Mercury, Gemini & Apollo missions. We’ll also look at NASA’s ongoing mission to put man onto Mars. We’ll ask, what from their story reflects our creator and can help us accomplish our mission?

God has challenged us to reach the world with the gospel. He’s challenged us to make disciples and to baptize them. He wants us to let the world know that there is a God who is CRAZY about them and will never stop until He reaches them.

Just as man wouldn’t stop until they reached the moon and won’t stop until they reach Mars, so God is never stopping in His impossible mission of reaching the entire world with His love.

God is Like a Rocket Launch.