Innovation in Service to Community
The beginnings of an urban farm in midtown OKC
SOWING ANDREAPING IN A WHOLE NEW WAY BY C YNDI L AMB (‘74)
In 2011, Evan and Andrea Mosshart left Oklahoma to serve for one year as on-site coordinators in the African country of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). The Mossharts were part of a now 20-year partnership between SNU, Bethany First Nazarene, and this tiny country the size of New Jersey which has the highest prevalence of HIV in the world. When Evan disembarked from the 19-hour plane flight, he expected to encounter a country ravaged by disease and poverty. What he didn’t expect was to see “people who had a passion for helping their neighbor. People who worked tirelessly for the benefit of those in need around them with seemingly reckless perseverance and irrepressible enthusiasm.” One of the Mossharts' assignments in eSwatini was to assist the established HIV/AIDS Task-Force which visits hundreds of homebound patients offering palliative care. The task force also works with communities throughout the country in planting gardens. Evan observed people bent over toiling, faces glistening with sweat as they worked together - digging, planting, and weeding in the African sun. Even those who were sick would help as they could.
SNU MAGAZINE | FALL 2021 19
