Each night and morning at "Fearless," Columbia Union Conference's 2016 camporee, Jonatan Tejel, General Conference associate youth director and Pathfinder world director, spoke to attendees.  Watch his Friday evening sermon here:

Watch the Thursday evening "Fearless" program here.
Watch the Saturday evening "Fearless" program here.

Story by Andrew McChesney/ Adventist Review

Story by Edwin Manuel Garcia

Before he saved dozens of wounded soldiers on the front lines during World War II, which earned him a Medal of Honor, Seventh-day Adventist combat medic Desmond Doss (pictured below with President Harry Truman) was called a misfit for refusing to carry a weapon, and commanders ostracized him for observing the Sabbath.

Life wasn’t easy for Doss and other Adventists in the U.S. armed forces.

But 70 years later, the military has become a more welcoming institution for Adventists, according to active and retired military personnel within the Columbia Union. This is a marked change from when Doss enlisted as a noncombatant with conscientious objector status.

Story by North American Division Communication Staff

Story by the Desmond Doss Council

On April 1, 1942, Desmond Doss joined the United States Army. Little did he realize that three and a half years later, he would be standing on the White House lawn, receiving the nation’s highest award for his bravery and courage under fire.

Of the 16 million men in uniform during World War II, only 431 received the Congressional Medal of Honor. One of these was placed around the neck of a young Seventh-day Adventist Christian, who during combat had not killed a single enemy soldier. In fact, he refused to carry a gun. His only weapons were his Bible and his faith in God.