Dear Friends of Divine Savior Ministries,
We are in November, and I wanted to give a quick update on what is happening across our campuses. In summary, God continues to bless our ministry. There are more students and families being connected to God's Word through our Academies and Churches than ever before, and I'm always amazed by the collection of talent God has given Divine Savior. This truly is a special place with special people. Thank you to all who keep this ministry going and growing.
Doral Campus
We have weathered the initial COVID concerns and enrollment has grown to 1,079, well above our goal of 1,030.
We are working to open four sections in each middle school grade next year. This will require recapturing underutilized space to create more classrooms. We are working with our architect to best understand all the options.
We just completed a major IT infrastructure upgrade. This will greatly improve internet connectivity, reliability, and position us well for the future.
The Worship and Ministry Center permit will continue into the new year. We are revising our "optimistic" goal to February. This is similar to the delays we are seeing in SRR and is due to a lack of manpower at the City. We will reprice the building once we have permit in hand.
More than 40 people are connecting with our DSC ministry programs for the first time!
Four calls have been issued, and one staff member, Matt Prost, is currently holding a call to serve elsewhere. Please keep this in prayer.
Delray Beach Campus
Enrollment is117, and should increase to 120 with the students currently in process.
Jeff (Facilities Manager) has taken a more active role in dealing with maintenance issues on this campus, which has been well received by the group.
Laura (Principal) and Christy (Dir. of Admissions) have proven to be great additions.
DSC hosted over 300 people at last Friday's Fall Festival Family Night. There were costumes, food trucks, a band, and most importantly the Word of God was shared. You can check out the pictures on the DSC Facebook page.
Two calls have been issued and no one on staff is holding a call to serve elsewhere. Please keep this in prayer.
Sienna Campus
Enrollment is 201. This exceeds our projection of 190.
We have engaged a local design firm (PBK) to begin the design and development process of Phase II.
We currently have eight modular classrooms on the campus and will need to build Phase II in order to comply with the HOA covenants.
DSC launched Connect Groups for the first time on this campus and there are nine people in Starting Point classes...six from the Academy!
Pastor Kevin recently danced during his sermon...you might want to look that up on YouTube.
Four calls have been issued and no one on staff is holding a call to serve elsewhere. Please keep this in prayer.
Santa Rita Ranch
Enrollment is 203 and we continue to see interest.
Phase II will go into permitting on 11/4. We have a group of parents ready to help "encourage" local officials to move this along as expeditiously as possible. We were given an eight month timeline, but believe we can do better.
We continue to fundraise for Phase II as construction costs continue to rise.
DSC is averaging 30 more people in worship than this time last year. This is a testament to our teachers continued encouragements and invitations to our families to join us in worship.
Four calls have been issued and no one on staff is holding a call to serve elsewhere. Please keep this in prayer.
West Palm Beach Campus
DSC continues to serve all of God's people, both young and old. They are experiencing a baby boom in WPB...I'm told it's getting loud in church...but the four members in their 90's last Sunday were happy to hear it.
Pastor John Boggs has a call to serve at Luther Preparatory School. Please keep him in your prayers as he deliberates where he can best serve.
Divine Savior School
There are currently 27 students enrolled.
This month we are transitioning our occupational and speech therapy services from a third party to in-house. This will allow us to better support and serve our students.
We recently had 37 people attend our special needs worship service: Worship at the Cross. There were also 15 people who attended our traditional service Sunday morning through a program called Invitation Sunday. This is where DSS and DST staff volunteer to take the students to Sunday School so the parents can enjoy worship.
Last month there were 8 people who attended our devotion for parents of children with special needs. Thanks to Mrs. Babler and Dr. Althoff for facilitating this new program.
Divine Savior Ministries
Outside of day-to-day operations, we are exploring new opportunities to increase our reach and create new ministry opportunities.
We are down one person in the business office, but will be onboarding someone soon.
Shawna (Head of Early Childhood) continues to hold her call to Martin Luther College. Please keep this in your prayers.
We thank God for all the progress and growth on our campuses, and look forward to more ministry together!
Pastor Carlos Leyrer
President - Divine Savior Ministries