American 'Soldier of Christ' Fights ISIS on Frontlines in Obedience to Christ's Command to 'Defend the Weak'

Feb 25, 2015 01:10 PM EST

Pslam 82:3 says, "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."

A young military veteran from Detroit, Michigan, known as a "Soldier of Christ", is serving on the frontlines to defeat the Islamic State terror group in obedience to Jesus' command to protect the poor and oppressed.

"People ask me, 'Why you?' I come back and I say, 'Why not? Why just me? Where's everyone else at?'" the U.S. Army veteran known as only Brett told ABC News in an interview.

Despite being severely wounded while serving in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, the young soldier says he's not afraid of once again facing the enemy.

"Jesus says, you know, 'What you do unto the least of them, you do unto me.' I take that very seriously," Brett said, adding that he came to Iraq to serve all who are defenseless-Christian and non-Christian alike.

Islamic State militants have targeted religious minorities, particularly Christian and Yazidis, since overtaking large swaths of Iraq and Syria over the past year.

Thousands of believers have been driven from their homes or murdered by the extremist group, which has vowed to cleanse the region of religions other than Islam. Additionally, hundreds of Christian women and girls have been raped, tortured, or sold into slavery.

Yesterday, the jihadists kidnapped 90 Christians from two towns in Syria in retaliation for a major Kurdish offensive aimed at freeing villages from the terror group's control. The condition and whereabouts of the Christians is currently unknown.

Less than a week prior, ISIS released a chilling video titled "A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross," which shows the execution 21 Egyptian Christians, who died while singing hymns to Jesus.

The group has also destroyed many Christian churches in Iraq and Syria and sold religious artifacts and ancient manuscripts to fund their military activity.

Multiple faith leaders, including the Rev. Franklin Graham and the Vatican's Pope Francis, have denounced such brutality and encouraged unity from Christians around the world.

"The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard. It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ," the pontiff said.

"As we recall these brothers and sisters who died only because they confessed Christ, I ask that we encourage each another to go forward with this ecumenism which is giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The martyrs belong to all Christians."

Brett, who was raised a Roman Catholic but identifies simply as Christian, is currently fighting alongside a small, local Christian militia called the Dweikh Nawsha. The group relies on donations from Christian charities abroad and wealthier members of the Iraqi Assyrian community for their weapons and is under the command of a Kurdish peshmerga force in Iraq.

The Dweikh Nawsha says their goal is to reclaim territory from the terrorist group and allow Christians and other minorities to return to their homes.

"We came here ... to protect our Christian brothers and their homes," said Abdul Rahman Kawriny, the local peshmerga brigade commander. "There is constant cooperation and assistance. We are always together."