Your Neighbor as Yourself: A Spotlight on Amy Boyle’s Residency at Trinity Wesleyan
By Jessica White
Former Indiana Wesleyan University graduate, Amy Boyle, is currently wrapping up her pastoral residency at Trinity Wesleyan Church where she has been serving unhoused and recovering neighbors in the inner city of Indianapolis. Amy started this journey desiring to translate her studies into practice, with a focus on ministering to those in poverty in the United States – her inner city “neighbors.” When Amy stepped into this role, she had expectations of what serving in this context would look like. Though she encountered obstacles when plans did not go as expected, Amy is grateful to have learned Jesus is the ultimate helper and has given us a model through Scripture of how to “love your neighbor as yourself”.
“If things had gone how I expected, I would have been tempted to imagine that I was self-sufficient.” Amy reflected in a recent interview. “I have realized I need the people around me to accomplish what God has asked me to accomplish and I can be a part of helping another person accomplish what God has asked them to accomplish- not just as a checklist, but missionally in the Kingdom.”
During her time serving those on the margins, Amy learned that loving your neighbor well means being “an incarnational presence” to the surrounding community. Because there are no full-time staff dedicated to working in these inner city ministries at three different locations, Amy wrestled through a willingness and humility to invite others to serve where it isn’t physically possible to be in three places at once. Reflecting on Jesus’ ministry on earth when he sent the disciples out in pairs, she prayed for God to bring others to be a part in loving these communities. One woman in particular, who had grown up in the area and had experienced homelessness and various other hardships, was an answer to Amy’s prayer. This woman has become a partner with Amy as she ministered in the neighborhood, being physically present for outreach, and making connections with the community. She modeled what it looks like to love her neighbors, teaching Amy how to love them in response:
“Part of loving your neighbor well comes with a willingness to be a learner in a space where you don’t belong or you are not familiar. There is a mutual exchange when we have a posture of learning from one another and loving one another and having a willingness to be friends with one another. This is when loving our neighbor shifts from being an obligation to a privilege and an honor.”
Serving food to the community, distributing clothes, creating spaces for fellowship and discipleship requires people who are willing to give their time and energy. Amy reflected on how something as simple as a clothing giveaway requires hours of preparation so the process can be carried out in a manner to give those who are being served a sense of dignity and choice. As Amy has participated in various parts of this ministry to provide outreach into areas of poverty, she has been intentional in making connections and in looking for more people to come alongside her and be a physical ambassador of Jesus in the community. As a result, people from the community that Amy has been ministering to have become her partners in ministry to serve others.
Amy’s experience offers a framework for outreach to be a presence felt in the community – so the church would be missed if it didn’t exist. Making connections with people, putting names to faces, and a mutual sharing of stories are a few ways Amy creates a relational investment. She reflected that sometimes it may feel unproductive to slow down and make intentional connections that push us beyond task-orientation, but that she has realized it builds a relational credibility with the long view in mind to take more intentional time.
While Jesus was on earth, he met the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of those he encountered, giving us the ultimate model of what it means to “love your neighbor”. Amy has been amazed at how God takes our meager offerings and extends them so others can experience His love.
