After spending a year stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, as military chaplain, Arthur Branner, former pastor of the Fairfield church, returned safely to his home in Elk Grove, Calif. on Nov. 10. As chaplain of the 250th Military Intelligence Battalion, Branner witnessed many instances of God’s power.

From the moment Branner arrived at his post, he devised a prayer system that enabled him to personally pray for the 174 soldiers in his battalion by the end of each week, and he also conducted weekend services and Wednesday night Bible studies. As a result, two soldiers, Sergeant Riccardo Givens and Captain Christopher Furne, were baptized.

“He is wholeheartedly connected with Christ,” said Branner of Givens. “Riccardo wants to attend Columbia Union College when he returns home and is further considering attending seminary at Andrews.”

Furne, on the other hand, was already familiar with Seventh-day Adventism, as his wife is an Adventist. For many years, Furne’s wife tried to persuade him to embrace her beliefs, but he resisted. “Christopher’s life has dramatically changed,” said Branner. “When he called home to his wife, she was shocked. He no longer got upset at the things he used to—she can’t believe how much he’s changed.” Both Givens and Furne have fully embraced the Adventist message and have even become vegetarians on their own accord.

Givens and Furne were not the only soldiers affected by Branner’s prayers and Bible studies. Every morning, Branner would pray with the soldiers before they went out on missions or conducted reconnaissance. Before a particularly dangerous mission, Branner told the soldiers how vital it was that they pray.

Upon their return from this mission, the soldiers developed a new attitude on prayer. Three military vehicles were traveling on an unpaved road with frequent crests. Unbeknownst to the drivers, an improvised explosive device (IED) had previously created three large craters in the road. By the time the drivers had reached the crest just before the craters, they were traveling at 70 mph. With little time to react, each of the drivers jerked their steering wheel and managed to swerve just the right degree to miss the craters. After completing their mission, the soldiers returned to the craters to measure them—each was 14 feet wide, and 8 feet deep. They returned to Branner with gratitude, telling him, “We should’ve flipped. We want to thank you for praying, because we know God was taking care of us.”

Incidents like this continued to occur repeatedly, causing soldiers to take Branner’s prayers seriously. “On days where there had been fires or explosions, soldiers would come back and thank me for my prayers,” said Branner. “Soldiers began telling me, ‘Chaplain, we’re going on a mission; we need you to pray for us.’” After witnessing more than 200 instances of answered prayers, zero deaths or injuries to the soldiers within his battalion, Branner gained a new perspective.

“It suddenly began to dawn on me,” said Branner. “God began to work on my heart to tell me that while thanksgiving is good, ‘thanksliving’ is better. To hear a mortar above you and to feel your trailer rock like an earthquake puts things in perspective.”