Truett Alumni

This summer eleven alumni said yes to Dr. Mike Stroope and the Ministry for Life grant as they pressed pause, traveled to Spain, and trekked the Camino de Santiago as a group. Over the 96-mile journey they walked alongside other pilgrims and took time to explore two important topics: vocation and call. Below are some reflections once they returned from the trip back in June. 

Discernment does not end with clarity of calling; it moves toward faithful placement and lived ministry. For Kenneth McNeil, director of Ministry Connections, that movement is where much of his work is situated. His role places him at a critical point in the life of the Seminary, where formation meets vocation and where students begin to step into the work they have been preparing to do.

In 2006, Mulenga Chela from Zambia, was wrongfully imprisoned in a neighboring African country — but he refused to let that break him. During his time there, he shared the gospel with thousands of fellow prisoners. After two years he was released, and a few years later, a miraculous encounter in Zambia with a former interim president of Baylor University led him to Texas and to attend Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary. 

For Dora Bortley, ministry has never been confined to one place. From the United States to Ghana, her life’s work reflects a steady calling to proclaim the gospel, equip believers, and serve communities with faithfulness and conviction. Her journey is one marked by deep theological formation, global vision, and a lifelong commitment to living out the message she proclaims.