Pioneers are in a class all their own. They are people who swim upstream against the ethical current of the day (like Noah). They are individuals who take on the Goliath of the day with no fear of defeat (such as David). As servants of God living grace filled values they accept injustice in a spirit of humility (example: Joseph).
Take the founders of space travel, for example. Three innovative men, each unaware of the others, launched our world into the unexpected new era of space travel: (1)
In 1903, Russian Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky first speculated that a rocket could travel beyond the earth’s atmosphere.
In 1923, Hermon Oberth, a Transylvanian-German developed the first mathematical formula for space travel.
In 1926, Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-propellant rocket from a farm near Auburn, Massachusetts.
Each man was different, yet each fulfilled the love and passion of a lifetime. Although worlds apart, the impact of their discoveries would not be fully understood until years later. Others would build on each person’s contribution, and mankind would move inexorably toward flight into space. The individual endeavors of these pioneers would combine to eventually landing a man on the moon.
(1) Chuck Swindoll. Bible Study Guide: Abraham. Insight for Living. Fullerton, California, 1986, pg. 1