We want to translate these big ideas in a way students will be able to understand;We are cultural translators.
Amy Boyden
Amy Boyden
Name: Amy Boyden
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Organization: Axis
Position: Community Relations Developer
About Amy:
Amy is originally from California, but has always felt more at home in Colorado. Her first interaction with the great state was in the summer of 2006 when she attended her first Summit Conference. Amy recounts, “I believe God planted a seed then for Summit. I fell in love with Summit. I fell in love with Colorado.”
Amy’s journey to Axis has been a long one – filled with the Lord’s faithfulness. After having to drop out of college due to anxiety and panic attacks during her third year in 2010, she had to move back home. In the fall of 2011, Amy joined Summit Semester. It was during her time at Summit Semester that she first heard about Axis. They were looking for interns to join their traveling team and she was eager to go. However, the Lord closed the door. The timing wasn’t right – not yet. She went back home to work as a nanny, but couldn’t stop thinking about Axis. Despite her desire to get involved, it still didn’t feel like the right time. It wasn’t until spring 2013 that she finally applied and was accepted to travel with Axis. Only a couple weeks into the traveling, however, Amy became very sick. She had to leave abruptly without having hardly begun her work with Axis. After spending some time back home in California working on her own health, she was approached by Axis to consider a full-time position at their headquarters. She officially began her work there in January 2014.
Q: How did Summit help to prepare you?
A: Being able to understand what it was like to be a young college student who is thirsty and wanting to know more about what I believe has certainly helped me relate to many of the students we speak to at Axis. I don’t have any dramatic ‘I walked away from my faith’ stories. I knew that the truth of the gospel was true…but I didn’t know how to answer this professor. Summit was there to answer the questions I was so desperate to know the answers for. It developed me as a self-seeker. Summit was a stepping stone in my journey.
Q: Why Axis?
A: Axis if very passionate about helping students know why they believe what they believe, how to defend it at school, and gain a life-long relationship with Christ. Very personal situation here. We’ve all had close friend/relatives walk away from the faith.
Q: What’s been one of your greatest challenges during this time of transition??
A: There have been a number of times since I joined and I have gone, ‘Great! God’s opening this door, I know what He’s doing’ and then He’s thrown me a curve ball. Since day one. I think I know exactly what’s going to happen and then He’s responded, ‘Nope, you’re going to have to trust me on this one.’ It certainly has been rewarding.
Q: One piece of advice:
A: I think there is a lot of power in us as individuals moving forward and trusting that the Lord will open and close doors. I know this has been true in my life in Axis, but also in my decision to go to Summit Semester. I came back from Summit and knew I really wanted to go to Summit Semester, but didn’t know what that looked like. I knew my anxiety was still an issue, I didn’t have the extra money to go at that point, but really felt the desire to try.
My advice would be: even when you don’t have clear direction, continue to move forward, continue to seek the desires that God has put on your heart. He will continue to open and close doors.
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Organization: Axis
Position: Community Relations Developer
About Amy:
Amy is originally from California, but has always felt more at home in Colorado. Her first interaction with the great state was in the summer of 2006 when she attended her first Summit Conference. Amy recounts, “I believe God planted a seed then for Summit. I fell in love with Summit. I fell in love with Colorado.”
Amy’s journey to Axis has been a long one – filled with the Lord’s faithfulness. After having to drop out of college due to anxiety and panic attacks during her third year in 2010, she had to move back home. In the fall of 2011, Amy joined Summit Semester. It was during her time at Summit Semester that she first heard about Axis. They were looking for interns to join their traveling team and she was eager to go. However, the Lord closed the door. The timing wasn’t right – not yet. She went back home to work as a nanny, but couldn’t stop thinking about Axis. Despite her desire to get involved, it still didn’t feel like the right time. It wasn’t until spring 2013 that she finally applied and was accepted to travel with Axis. Only a couple weeks into the traveling, however, Amy became very sick. She had to leave abruptly without having hardly begun her work with Axis. After spending some time back home in California working on her own health, she was approached by Axis to consider a full-time position at their headquarters. She officially began her work there in January 2014.
Q: How did Summit help to prepare you?
A: Being able to understand what it was like to be a young college student who is thirsty and wanting to know more about what I believe has certainly helped me relate to many of the students we speak to at Axis. I don’t have any dramatic ‘I walked away from my faith’ stories. I knew that the truth of the gospel was true…but I didn’t know how to answer this professor. Summit was there to answer the questions I was so desperate to know the answers for. It developed me as a self-seeker. Summit was a stepping stone in my journey.
Q: Why Axis?
A: Axis if very passionate about helping students know why they believe what they believe, how to defend it at school, and gain a life-long relationship with Christ. Very personal situation here. We’ve all had close friend/relatives walk away from the faith.
Q: What’s been one of your greatest challenges during this time of transition??
A: There have been a number of times since I joined and I have gone, ‘Great! God’s opening this door, I know what He’s doing’ and then He’s thrown me a curve ball. Since day one. I think I know exactly what’s going to happen and then He’s responded, ‘Nope, you’re going to have to trust me on this one.’ It certainly has been rewarding.
Q: One piece of advice:
A: I think there is a lot of power in us as individuals moving forward and trusting that the Lord will open and close doors. I know this has been true in my life in Axis, but also in my decision to go to Summit Semester. I came back from Summit and knew I really wanted to go to Summit Semester, but didn’t know what that looked like. I knew my anxiety was still an issue, I didn’t have the extra money to go at that point, but really felt the desire to try.
My advice would be: even when you don’t have clear direction, continue to move forward, continue to seek the desires that God has put on your heart. He will continue to open and close doors.
