Hello Dear Friends,
Things are starting to wind down in Clemson as students enter into their final weeks of classes and finals. This semester seemed to fly by! Last Thursday we had our final Tiger Talk. We had been talking about the Miracles of Jesus and ended the semester by reflecting on the resurrection of Jesus. Thursday Morning, I woke up with my day planned out so that by Thursday night I would be ready to show up and discuss the resurrection with students. Around 1pm I went for a run since I have been training for a half marathon. I decided it was going to have to be a shorter run since I needed to be at the church by 3:30 to set up and prepare. About 4 miles into my run, my heart started racing (I have a heart condition called Supraventricular Tachycardia or SVT for short). I was still about 2 miles from where I had parked my car. I walked for a few minutes but had to sit down since I was feeling pretty lightheaded at this point. I sat on the side of the road for about 30 minutes as I focused on deep breathing and slowing down my heart rate. Once my heart rate had slowed down, I walked the last 2 miles to my car. By the time I made it home, it was around 3:00, and I was exhausted. I had to sit for a while and refuel my body, and even after doing these things, I was not recovering well and felt completely depleted of energy. I finally made it out of my house to head to the church to set up for Tiger Talk around 5. After setting up, I had very little time to review the lesson before Tiger Talk at 6:30. I knew I would likely be leading a discussion at one of the tables but I felt tired, anxious, and unprepared. But God worked anyway. God was not tired, anxious, and unprepared and He provided exactly what I needed at that moment. We read Luke 24:1-35 and worked through the discussion questions together. He removed all of my anxiety and gave me the follow-up questions to ask and the words to say. I typically am very anxious when leading group discussions, but Thursday night, when I was completely unprepared in every sense, God gave me confidence in His word and worked through my weakness. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Praise God that He works in broken, imperfect, tired, unprepared people!

I would like to share something else from our last Tiger Talk. As I was packing up at the end, a student approached me and we began catching up. Our conversation led to him asking me who pays my salary. I explained that my salary is 100% support based and he asked me if I would have to raise support for the upcoming year as well. I said yes and his response almost made me cry. He told me that he would like me to reach out to him when I begin raising support again because he would like to support me. He is a Christian, but he is from a country where there are very few Christians. I said, “thank you so much,” and he responded, “I notice that everyone here likes you, and you and Brian (campus minister) are representing Jesus to us. That’s really important to me because I come from a place where nobody represented Jesus to me. I think you’re doing a good job and that your work is really important.” I felt encouraged and also humbled by his kind words. As someone who feels as though she is always being confronted with her weaknesses and failures, his words were uplifting and reminded me of 2 Corinthians 12:9 which says “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” If I were to summarize all of my weaknesses and the ways God has worked in me anyways, you would have to take several hours out of your day to read through my newsletter (not kidding), so to summarize, I am thankful that even in my sinfulness and shortcomings, Jesus’s power is made perfect in me.

April 24th was my youngest brother’s, Asa’s, birthday! I facetimed him that evening, and 1 by 1, the rest of my brothers, Austin, Addison, and Ayden joined the facetime call. The 5 of us haven’t been in the same space having a conversation in over a year. I wish we could have been together in person, but I am so thankful that facetime could act as a substitute. We stayed on facetime for a long time while also sending old videos of each other back and forth, erupting in laughter the whole time. My heart misses them so.

Thank you all for being a crucial part of this ministry and for allowing me to serve students here at Clemson University. God is using your generosity to reach and bless the nations! Thank you for your financial, prayerful, and emotional support! Without you coming alongside me, I could not do this work. Thank you. 

I am looking forward to next year with eager anticipation. If you are already supporting me, thank you so much for coming alongside me. If you are reading this and would like to support me financially, here is how! Supporters can choose to either give monthly support or one-time gifts. One option is to give online at givetoruf.org and type in “Anna Ayers”, which will take you to my donation page, or a check can be mailed to: RUF, PO Box 890004, Charlotte, NC 28289-0004. Any donation given by check will need my fund code, 7138, written on the memo line in order for the funds to be processed. 

*all gifts are tax deductible and RUF is a certified 501(c)(3).

Thank you again for all of the ways each of you have supported and uplifted me. I would like to leave y’all with this encouragement: Even though we are weak, our God, the God of all creation, is strong and mighty! AND He loves you and me. 

Psalm 73:26 

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Peace of Christ,
Anna Ayers