Three weeks ago, RUF staff dove into the semester with many events for Welcome Week (WW) at Clemson! Refreshing popsicles on campus, many tabling events, a board game night, 400 rubber ducks handed out, and even a worship and prayer night; we were on a full sprint to meet students! Within the past two weeks, I’ve gotten over 125 freshman girl contacts, and my co-intern, Sean, has gotten almost 100 freshman guys. Thankfully, we are not alone in this effort to bring the Gospel to campus! As we pray for discernment with whom to pursue, we remember that there are many college ministries at Clemson running this race with us.
Even within RUF, our upperclassmen are meeting with freshmen for coffee, driving them to Walmart, and encouraging each other in their efforts! We are so thankful for times like WW, and all of the opportunities for connections with new students, but it doesn’t end there. The RUF staff has a busy month ahead of us with our Fall Conference on the horizon.

With this new year comes new staff at Clemson!! Sean and Emily have been absolute legends this semester! They both moved this summer, and with no knowledge about how ministry is done at Clemson, they have been eager to learn and meet our students! I’m so thankful to have them on our team!

Amelia. President of RUF at Clemson. Third-year college student. Student leader rock star.
Amelia came into RUF ready to learn, lead, and love! She was one of the co-leaders of our Freshmen Outreach Team last year and has stayed on as a member this year. Her heart for the Lord is contagious, as evidenced by her love for our younger students. When someone on staff has a question about the life or culture of Clemson, Amelia is the first person we ask.
We are so thankful to have her with us as we reach students for Christ, and are praying that she goes on to be a future RUF Intern!

We are two Large Groups into the semester! If you’re ever curious about the shenanigans of RUF at Large Group, you should definitely check out our Instagram page (@clemson.ruf). We’ve had about 150 students attend Large Group so far, and it has been awesome to watch as new students are welcomed by our upperclassmen!!
This year, Daniel is preaching through 1 John, which you can listen to on our podcast! I’ve already had many wonderful discussions with girls about the passages so far, so I’m really excited to see how the Lord uses this series this semester!

Our small group Bible studies have started this week! As I’m writing this newsletter, we’ve had 103 students sign up to join one of these studies!! Praise God for the hunger and curiosity that these students have for His Word! I will be leading a study through the Psalms this semester! I’m very excited to dive into scripture with my girls! This Monday, I had twelve girls join me as we looked at what Psalm 1 says. We talked about how the Lord commands us to be rooted in Scripture and what the rest of the semester is going to look like in our study!

In just a couple of weeks, we will be heading out to our annual Fall Conference at Greystone camp! We are expecting to bring around 90 students, so please be in prayer for us the weekend of Sept. 26th! This is a great time for our students to get to know each other more and dive into Scripture together! With school ramping up, our students are stressed and tired, so this retreat will hopefully be a time of rest for them!

I am so thankful to have all of you backing me up in ministry this year! The Lord has been so gracious through each of you, which encourages me as I go onto campus.

I have only $12,000 left to fundraise for this year! As we get closer to the end of the year, I will be reaching out to some of y’all for any additional support that you may be able to offer. Also, please expect a postcard in the next month with a small update about ministry! I am praying for each of you, but please reach out with any specific prayer requests!

• Pray for our students and the tests coming up

• Pray for all of our small groups and their leaders this semester

• Pray for our freshmen as they try to build friendships

• Praise for our upperclassmen and their love toward our freshmen

Thank you so much for the ways that you all have loved and supported me. If you have any questions, or prayer requests, or would just like to chat, please call or text me at (423)453-6249.