This man has got the best view of God's "creative work," and he is setting a new world record. He is U.S. astronaut Jeff Williams, the commander for Expedition 48 of the International Space Station, which is orbiting Earth every 90 minutes at 17,500 mph.
Last Saturday, Aug. 24, Williams set a new world record for the most time spent in space by an American, passing the 520-day mark set by Scott Kelly. When he returns home from orbit after his 172-day mission on Sept. 6, he will set a new mark for an American in space at 534 days, according to NASA.
On Tuesday, Williams spoke with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) President R. Albert Mohler Jr. through a NASA downlink to the SBTS chapel in Louisville, Kentucky, the Baptist Press reports.
Williams said the view of the universe from the space station's window is one that only deepens his Christian faith.
"When I look out the window and I see this—all of the elements are what you would imagine you would see with a creative work by an infinite God," Williams said. "You see the design, you see the beauty, you see the purpose, you see all of those elements, you see order in all the details."
"It's one thing to be inside here, look out the window, and view the elements of God's creation in deep space as well as the planet," Williams said.
"It's quite another thing to go outside, and now you have set yourself inside this suit that is sustaining your life and you can see through that full-faced visor not only the vastness and the majesty of the globe itself but deep out into space. It just deepens a comprehension, the observation of what we know through Scripture about the amazing creative work of God. It's an incredibly humbling experience," he said.
Williams spoke with Mohler for 15 minutes at the beginning of the normal chapel hour from 250 miles above Earth just after the International Space Station had passed North America before moving over to the north Atlantic.
The interview ended with Williams performing a zero-gravity backflip and waving to the chapel audience.
Mohler called Williams a "dear brother in Christ" and a "friend of the seminary." He also thanked NASA, which he said went beyond normal protocol to arrange the interview during chapel.
