As a world community, we have failed.

At least that's how Grace United Methodist Church pastor Karl Kroger felt when the most recent violence broke out in Syria.

Kroger traveled to the Middle East about five years ago and has felt connected to the area ever since. This summer, the Piedmont man decided to do something, anything, to help those in the conflict area.

Research put him in touch with a school from Bethlehem that was traveling to Jordan to help refugees. They were open to him assisting and he headed to the area in early October.

Kroger spent a week in Mafraq, Jordan, visiting some of the 5,000 Syrian families that have crossed the border there. He and students from Bethlehem Bible School listened to stories of pain and suffering caused by war, delivered supplies ranging from foam mattresses to food and cooking supplies, and prayed with, and for, the refugees.

"It's such a complex problem and people don't necessarily know what they can do to help, and I just think the very least thing we can do with people in the middle of war is to sit and be present with them and listen to them," he said. "We didn't just go and give people some supplies and tell them to have a nice day, but we would sit for one to two hours sharing stories, laughing, finding additional ways we could help and praying for them."

The people he visited inspired Kroger.

"[They] were incredibly resilient and still are doing their best to show kindness, hospitality and to find joy in life still," he said.

Kroger hopes to return, bringing others to assist more refugees in the area.