To the north-east of Senegal's capital city of Dakar, near the regional capital of Thies, lies the federation of 16 villages known as Lake Grove Land.  It was the villages themselves who chose this name, in recognition of the partnership that exists between them and the people of Lake Grove Presbyterian Church.  More than 50 individuals from Lake Grove have visited Lake Grove Land, many more than once, and they have built lasting relationships with the people there.  In many ways, tangible and intangible, we have ministered to each other.  Consider:

10 years ago:

In the wake of the 1980's drought, there was no clean water.  Women walked miles to carry often-infected water from the few hand-dug wells deep enough not to have run dry.  Children were dying at a high rate from water-borne diseases.  There were no schools, no health care, no agricultural initiatives, no child sponsorships, and no regional low-cost health facility.  But there was hope:  World Vision had identified a deep aquifer, and had begun a program of drilling bore-hole wells to access clean, plentiful water.  Lake Grove Presbyterian agreed to come alongside the original 9 villages and World Vision in a long-term, 3-way partnership to demonstrate God's love by working to meet these physical needs.

5 Years Ago      

Wells were being drilled and the villages had access to clean water.  Health huts were in operation, and the child mortality rate had plummeted.  A one-room school was operating, and 40 students were enrolled. 

Today

Today, 5 teachers are instructing 350 students, and 50 (including many of that first class) have gone on to High School.  Several have achieved recognition for their academic success, just as the teachers, led by that first pioneer, have been recognized by the government for their success rate.  Today, all 16 villages have potable water.  Today, 2 Girl Child (vocational training) centers are in operation.  And today, the 4-story Barthimee Clinic in Thies provides low-cost medical and dental care to all comers and brings care throughout the region with its mobile medical and dental vehicles. 

Look How Far We've Come Together

It's hard to imagine the impact that simple things like clean water have made on people's lives in Lake Grove Land.  It's also hard to measure the impact on the lives of those at Lake Grove Presbyterian who have visited Lake Grove Land, who have celebrated there, made friends there, stayed there and become involved--for a little while--in the life of a West African village.  There, people live as they have for centuries.  They have welcomed us with open arms, astonished that people from so far away should care about them or want to build a long-term relationship with them.  For our part, we have returned to Lake Oswego with a new sense of what we are called to be as Christians.  We have done this in hopes of provoking the questions to which Jesus Christ is the answer.  May God be praised, and may he use us in some small way to raise His Church among the Wolof!