WHITE OAK, Texas — Philip Jordan and Joey Vargas dropped their hard hats at clean cut roofing in White Oak and answered a calling in Ukraine.
“It was definitely a God thing to move us from Pakistan to Warsaw and then into Ukraine," Jordan said.
The pair spent their first few days at an expo center in Warsaw among thousands of refugees who survived Russian blasts.
“We did an interview with a family who came from medical school, and as one of their sons was delivering water to the people around him, he was struck by shrapnel. And so he died there," Jordan said.
By day four, Jordan and Vargas were in Lviv, Ukraine hearing air raid sirens and seeing first-hand what it’s like to wonder if this day will be their last.
That sobering reality fueled their urge to help.
“When there's people who need help, and they need support, they need food, they're hungry, they're trapped. To me, it just is so much greater than the fear of war," Jordan said.
War taught them lessons they couldn’t have learned at home.
“Coming back, I think the first thing I realized is how peaceful my life was. Not just the things that we had as far as physical and monetary. It’s just peace. I'm not worried about a bomb dropping on my head. I'm not worried about being forced to go to war,” Vargas said.
They got back to the United States on Sunday and were back to work Monday morning.
“Half my brains on work, and the other half is in Ukraine," Jordan said.
The two are already planning their next trip back.
To keep up with their future efforts in Ukraine and to help yourself, visit samaritanservants.org