Chapter 16

The Calling of Huntsville Alabama

This brief history of my beloved city will outline the Past, the Present and then the Future of a region that I have been a part of since I graduated college in 1991. It was first written in 1998 and then updated in 2004 when I wrote the previous chapter on The Spiritual Map of Huntsville. So there is some overlap.

The Past

"The Sky is not the limit" is the slogan of Huntsville, because from the very beginning Huntsville has had a pioneering spirit. In 1805, John Hunt and his family started the very first English settlement within the territory that is now Alabama. Huntsville had the region's first cotton mill and cotton gin. Also, Alabama's first capital was in Huntsville where the first Alabama governor and legislature convened. They were also the first in the area to lay the foundation for a newspaper, a school, a bank and a library. Huntsville soon became the largest city in the Tennessee Valley.

During the 1940's and World War II, the US Army established the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville to store and build conventional munitions and artillery shells, which brought the high technology and scientific endeavors which now characterize Huntsville. In 1950, Dr. Wernher von Braun and 100 other German scientists pioneered the United States space program right here in Huntsville Alabama.

During the civil rights movements of the 1960's, Huntsville led the way in Alabama by allowing African-American students to enroll in our schools defying Alabama Governor George Wallace's attempts at segregation. Also during this time, Optimist Park was opened at Oakwood Road and Meridian Street where games by the Birmingham Black Barons and other Negro League teams played. This was one of the few baseball parks in the Nation open to all races that served as a practice field for Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and other African American baseball legends. The space and missile efforts in Huntsville have always been engineered by a multitude of racial and ethnic backgrounds. In order to build something as complex as the Space Shuttle or the Space Lab it takes not only excellent technical knowledge, but a great deal of unity and openness to other fields of expertise which are often found in countries outside of the USA.

The Present

Huntsville (also called the Rocket City) is currently a medium sized community of about 250,000 people (including the surrounding Madison county) and is known internationally as the "Space Capital of America" because of our "US Space & Rocket Center Museum" and "Space Camp" for kids. The Space museum is a memorial to the US and world space exploration, containing the world's most comprehensive collection of rocketry. It is the world's largest space attraction and Alabama's largest tourist stop. Displayed outside, as you pass the museum on Interstate 565, is an actual Space Shuttle with fuel booster, a large sky-scraping Saturn 5 rocket, and a SR-71 Black Bird airplane (A-12 Oxcart) that flew over mach 3 speed from New York to London in less than 2 hours. Space Camp, which is connected with the museum, is where kids come from all over the world for weeks at a time to learn in a fun hands-on way about science, math and space technology.

Due to the geographical location in the Tennessee Valley as well as being a high technology based town, the communication lines, satellite connections, and energy services (Tennessee Valley Authority- TVA) are some of the best in the country around the Huntsville region. In 1992, South Central Bell made Huntsville the first major metropolitan area in the US to have 100% digital network switching and transmission facilities, allowing information to be transmitted faster, clearer and more economically. Huntsville has also been the first site for five other major telecommunication projects for South Central Bell, one of which was the first networking by way of ISDN technology. It also has many other large telecommunication companies such as Boeing, Adtran & SCI. The Supercomputer Network Services at Boeing, which has headquarters in Huntsville, made Alabama the first state to initiate the unifying of a network for use by both the academic world and industries.28

Huntsville has the second largest Research Park in the world (Cummings Research Park) which does research for many of the US defense and NASA contracts. It is home of the US government's Space and Missile Defense Center (SMDC) & Redstone Arsenal, where the Patriot missile, which was used in the 1991 Gulf War, was partially developed. Some of Huntsville's scientists work on the Space Station Freedom, which is an observatory, laboratory, and manufacturing facility in space. The main civic center and several public schools in Huntsville are named after people or things that relate to the Space and Missile industry. Because of all the high technology work done in Huntsville, it boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the nation, but also has the highest spies per capita as well. Therefore, we have a high concentration of extremely intelligent rocket scientists in Huntsville, as well as top level security.

The Future

In 1998, Huntsville acquired an indoor soccer team called the Huntsville Fire. Please pray for the Fire of God to ignite in Huntsville! Jeremiah 20:9 says that "His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back and could not." The Lord desires Huntsville to be a lampstand shining as Jesus the light of the world. In particular a lampstand of the "Spirit of knowledge" (Isaiah 11:2). Just as Revelation chapters 2 and 3 describes different cities with different callings, Huntsville is called to publish the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). Oakwood college, UAH, and Research Park are just a few of the examples of higher learning that God has established in this city. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 6:3). "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)

Kjell Sjoberg, a prophet from Sweden, came to Huntsville in 1994 and declared: "Huntsville is The City of New Beginnings!" Huntsville will be one of the first cities to help pioneer the next major move of God and become a city of light and refuge. Huntsville is called to help lay the foundation for the Second Coming of Jesus and the ushering in of His 1,000 year reign. During this soon coming millennium, Huntsville will become a museum of the knowledge of The Creator. True science, math and astronomy will always lead to an appreciation for the Creator and realization that "the heavens declare the glory of God!" (Ps. 19). However, Huntsville needs the grace to understand that "the sum of Thy Word is truth" (Psalm 119:160), so as not to be puffed up in pride with this knowledge, but rather walk in love. "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." (1 Cor. 8:1)

In order to lay this foundation and make God's knowledge known, the Tennessee Valley will need to be exalted - "Every valley shall be exalted" (Isa. 40:4). However, the unity among the believers must be supernaturally high in order to maintain humility and accountability. Huntsville's "Christ Our Passover Unity Banquet" is one such yearly endeavor that is helping to bring this unity among the various Christian denominations. We are also praying towards a greater city wide Pentecost. Please pray for the Fire of God to fall on Huntsville and burn away the self-centeredness that hampers unity. May God give the people of Huntsville His glory so that we can be unified! (John 17:22)

Huntsville is called to be the Lord's lampstand of "the Spirit of knowledge" (Rev. 1:20, Isa. 11:2). To search the deep meaning of God's living Word (John 1:1,14) and give an appreciation for every jot and tittle of God's logos. Having an appreciation for the past will result in understanding the future. If we will learn to walk in the Spirit and love one another, Huntsville will be able to "declare the end from the beginning" (Isa. 46:10) and prepare for the soon coming King Jesus. "For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away." (1 Cor. 13:10)

The Spirit of God desires to rest upon this town and provide protection (Ps. 91) and freedom (2 Cor. 3:17) during the coming storm, because Huntsville has a destiny to fulfill in "restoring the foundations and repairing the breach" of the Lord, and declaring to all people the true knowledge and government of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! As a City of Refuge, "Those from among you (Huntsville) shall build up the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In." (Isaiah 58:12)