Recently retired Captain Barry Wilmore has had a stellar career in the US Navy, the US Air Force and NASA.
As a military pilot he flew in 21 combat missions over Iraq and Bosnia before becoming an astronaut with three spaceflights totaling 464 days in space and 32 hours of spacewalks.
He completed his first space mission aboard the shuttle Atlantis in 2009 and was briefly commander of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014.
He’s most famous for a mission that didn’t go according to plan in June 2024.
CHRISTIAN ASTRONAUT BECOMES STUCK IN SPACE
Barry and fellow astronaut Suni Williams launched aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft for its first crewed flight, but it only docked with the ISS after a critical malfunction with the capsule’s thrusters.
Devout Christian Barry believes they only survived that close call through divine intervention.
NASA ruled it “unsafe” for Wilmore and Williams to return aboard the Starliner and they were stranded in space for nine months before being rescued in March last year.
His book about all the drama of that experience Stuck in Space is being released next month.
BARRY WILMORE IS NOW FREE TO TELL HIS STORY AND SHARE GOD’S WORD
Captain Wilmore retired soon after returning to Earth and now uses his passion for astronomy to share the message of God’s Word.
He’s currently one of the speakers on the Answers in Genesis Gospel Reset Tour of Australia with Ken Ham.
Last week he told Neil Johnson on Vision Radio’s 20Twenty program that while he’s had an extraordinary career — he’s no different to anyone else dedicated to serving the Lord.
“It’s just like you live your life focused on the Lord and His glory. And He gave me the desire of my heart in many, many instances throughout my life.”
“MAN CANNOT DO A SINGLE THING UNLESS IT’S GIVEN TO HIM FROM HEAVEN”
“You know, I’ve got to throw out this verse: John 3.27. It’s John the Baptist.”
“His disciples came to him and basically said: Hey, This Jesus guy. His disciples are doing this, they’re baptised, they are doing all this stuff.”
“And John says: Hold on a second, a man cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven. Not one thing.“
“Not the air we breathe, not the capabilities, not launching and leaving the planet, none of those things come unless the Lord allows it.”
“And we know that, we understand that, and He should get the glory for all of us.”
“BEING IN SPACE JUST MAGNIFIES HIS HOLY NAME”
“I think about being in the heavens, literally, on the space station, in capsules, heading to the space station, orbiting the planet at 28,000 kilometres per hour.”
“It just magnifies His Holy name. He’s given us the ability to do all of this and allow this person, this individual (me) who grew up on a farm in Tennessee and wound up literally departing and leaving the planet for 464 days total.”
“It’s all inspiring. For Him and His glory and His capabilities he’s given us.”
“And being there, I can tell you on those spacewalks, those 32 hours I spent outside, not a single one of those hours went by that I didn’t at some point go. How did I get here?”
“WALKING IN SPACE IS AWE INSPIRING”
“Just amazing, as you take it all in and realise that you are in space in a one-man capsule shaped like a person. — you know, the space suit — in the vacuum of space, doing something that nobody else in the universe is doing but you and the person you’re out there with. I mean, it’s awe-inspiring.”
Barry Wilmore says becoming stuck in space also magnified God through the global coverage of his predicament, often focusing on his faith.
He told Vision Radio it was like the Biblical story of Pharaoh putting Joseph in prison:
“God is the one who allowed that and put him there. He would have never become second only to Pharaoh had it not been for the fact that he was in prison for how that played out with the cup bearer and the other gentlemen anyway.”
“So I look at this as if I wasn’t stuck in space. I was stuck in by many definitions of what stuck and stranded is, but I was put there, allowed to be there, by God, as He’s working out His plan and His purposes for His glory and our ultimate good.”
“THE LORD DEFINITELY INTERVENED WHEN THRUSTERS FAILED. WITHOUT QUESTION”
Being on board the ISS was a much better outcome than not being able to dock with the space station when the capsule’s thrusters failed.
“When we were losing thrusters out in front of the space station, many things went through my mind,” admitted Barry.
“A couple of those were, we have to dock, because if we don’t dock, I’m not sure we can make it back to Earth with these thrusters down in the situation being what it is.”
“The Lord definitely intervened, without question.”
“THE SPACE STATION WAS OUR SAFE HAVEN”
“The safe haven we had was the space station. So that was the thing that was prevalent in my mind.”
“So before we even docked, that [being stuck] went through my mind. That if we make it to space station, I’m not sure we’re coming back into space. So I knew it way early.”
“We’d lost four thrusters. We did not have the ability to fully control the spacecraft.”
“I’m on the manual controls, using every ounce of all the things that I had learned over decades of flying and spacecraft and capabilities, and I’m even incorporating orbital mechanics.”
Miraculously, two thrusters started for long enough to complete docking and ensure Barry and Suni could enter the safety of the ISS.
“I NEVER PROSELYTISE BUT I SHARE THE TRUTH”
Initially he kept his belief in the Lord’s Intervention to himself, telling Vision Radio: “I never proselytise or use my position as an astronaut to proselytise my belief. I was a servant to those that I worked for and that’s not what our mission was.”
“But if somebody asked me a question in an open environment, of course I’m going to give them the true answer.”
“After a couple of months on the space station we were taking questions from people around the nation and one gentleman asked: Captain Wilmore, what is your number one biggest takeaway from all of this? “
“And I’m like, wow, well, my number one, biggest takeaway is that I’m content because I know my Lord, my Saviour, Jesus Christ is in control.”
“He is sovereign. He’s working out His plan and His purposes for His glory and our ultimate good, those that do believe. “
“WHY I ALWAYS PREFER TO SHARE JESUS RATHER THAN GOD”
“Every single press conference since then, I have been asked something along the lines of faith-based understanding.”
“I always say Jesus Christ. I don’t use God, because people take God and they make it generic to whatever God they believe. But when you say Jesus, that’s specific, because He is our Lord and Saviour.”
Barry Wilmore will be speaking at the Gospel Reset Event on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday (February 21).
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