Tribute to Rev. Bob Sanders

Rev. Pastor Bob Sanders was a man with a heart for missions and Lake Grove Presbyterian Church helped develop his desire. In 1994, he reached out to LuAnn Yockey, a church member, and Regional Director for World Vision. Together, they put together a “Missions Sunday”. LuAnn arranged for John Robb to come from World Vision International. He suggested that the Lake Grove congregation commit to begin praying for an unreached people group in Senegal, West Africa: the Wolof.

In 1996, Rev. Pastor Bob Sanders, as the team leader of the first Go Team from Lake Grove Presbyterian Church made the trip to Senegal. They set foot in the village of Badar Gueye when the first borehole well came in. This had a profound effect on both LuAnn Yockey and Bob Sanders. Two more boreholes came in two other villages. Water was the main issue in this part of Senegal and so it was a tremendous relief for communities that were now able to access clean and potable water. At the time of the beginning of the holistic programme, people did not know that it was the church outreach programme to share the Love of Jesus Christ, and seven villages had been registered to make the Federation of Lake Grove as they named themselves. As a result of this, a Water Tower was built in the village of Darou Fall and water pipes were laid to reach all the 21 villages we number now. 

Now in 2021, 21 villages are connected to the Water Tower of Darou Fall; 3,527 inhabitants have access to clean water.

Other domains of this partnership:

• Education: From one public school, the programme helped build classrooms and four schools. A new high school opened in Babagarage in 2009 with the help of the programme. Much progress is noticed in other domains such as: 
• Food security: significant droughts and poor harvests struck the villages in 2002 and 2008. Lake Grove Presbyterian Church and Columbia Presbyterian Churches partnered with World Vision Senegal to provide rice, millet seeds, peanuts, and animal feed for the villages at that time.
• Health care: Two health huts were constructed in the villages of Keur Makhali and Taiba Ka. Now there is a health post in Babagarage to help people have access to better health care. Rev. Bob Sanders laid the foundation stone for Barthimee hospital. This hospital has a very high technical level today. The staff that work there are made up for the most part of the Christians who are very involved in their churches. Thanks to its CLEFT LIP PALATE operation programme, patients from the sub-region come to receive care. Barthimee Hospital is located in THIES.

The entire Lake Grove LAND COMMUNITY AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE Kollore GI extend their deepest condolences to the Lake Grove Presbyterian Church community believers. People here used to say that: “Bob sanders has blessed hands” –so it is.