Meet our team
The Relay Trust team is based around the globe, with team members living across three continents (Africa, Europe and North America) and several time zones. We have offices in Oxford, England, Buea, Cameroon, Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Lira, Uganda.
Content Department
Mette Bjergbæk Klausen
Director of Content
mbk@relaytrust.org
Mette is specialised in Old Testament and has a great interest in church dogmatics as well. When she completed her education in 2009 she and her husband, Alex, were employed by Mission Afrika and stationed in the northeastern part of Nigeria, where she was teaching diploma and bachelor students at Brønnum Lutheran Seminary, Yola, Adamawa State. She was part of the team that managed to affiliate the bachelor’s programme to one of the universities in Nigeria. In 2010 Mette was ordained as a Lutheran pastor by the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), as the first Danish woman to be ordained in LCCN. At Brønnum Lutheran Seminary Mette was teaching various topics but was mainly focusing on Old Testament. After three years in Nigeria she and her husband were transferred to Sierra Leone to work with the Anglican Diocese of Bo. They were in charge of establishing a new project called “Theological First Aid”. Through this project, they were involved with the training of more than 100 lay-readers within three years. In 2016 they both returned to Denmark and were employed by The Relay Trust to handle the new projects in West Africa with a similar focus on Christian formation and theological education. Mette has been employed by The Relay Trust since 01.10.2016.
Design Team
Jennifer Ward
English Communication
jw@relaytrust.org
Jennifer Ward is a second-year communications student studying at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, United States. Despite growing up in Idaho, United Sates, Jennifer was surrounded by the world of international missions from a young age, as her family served at the national headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship. During high school, she moved overseas with her family to Papua New Guinea. There she first became involved using her communications interest in local opportunities, both writing and editing content for missions and fundraising projects.
Currently, Jennifer is majoring in Strategic Communications with minors in Peace Studies and Philosophy at Whitworth University. Besides her full-time studies, she is involved in a student run public relations project for NGOs in Spokane and works part-time with The Relay Trust.
Jennifer Ward is a second-year communications student studying at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, United States. Despite growing up in Idaho, United Sates, Jennifer was surrounded by the world of international missions from a young age, as her family served at the national headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship. During high school, she moved overseas with her family to Papua New Guinea. There she first became involved using her communications interest in local opportunities, both writing and editing content for missions and fundraising projects.
Currently, Jennifer is majoring in Strategic Communications with minors in Peace Studies and Philosophy at Whitworth University. Besides her full-time studies, she is involved in a student run public relations project for NGOs in Spokane and works part-time with The Relay Trust.
Fidèle Constance Etjeke
French Translator
fe@relaytrust.org
Solveig Dret
French translator, proof-reader and theological consultant
sd@relaytrust.org
Solveig was born in Paris’ suburb and gave her life to Christ at a young age. She got her baccalaureate in literature and languages in 2006 and worked as an administrative assistant for an international company for 3 years. However, after a period of struggle with God, she rediscovered His grace and became thirsty for more. This led her to Benin for a short mission trip with Serving in Mission (SIM), followed by a one-year full-time internship at her local church in Paris before joining the Institut Biblique de Bruxelles (IBB) in Belgium. She studied theology there while serving in several churches – especially amongst teenagers, young adults and in worship music as a singer – and graduated in 2017. She met her husband-to-be Yohan in one of the communities she was involved in and they got married in 2016. Since 2018, Solveig has been a translator and a proofreader for several Christian organisations, including Moore College (Sydney, Australia) and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). She is a member of Chrétiennes Consacrées, a committee which organises annual Christian conferences for women in the French-speaking region of Belgium. She is also completing her theological courses at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) on a part-time basis.
Gabriela Kishi Cristofani
Executive Assistant
gkc@relaytrust.org
Gabriela was born in São Paulo, where she completed her undergraduate education in Portuguese Language and Literature at University of São Paulo in 2014. From 2015 to 2016 she was focused on completing her Training Course for Translators and Interpreters at Associação Alumni – São Paulo. Before opening her own company, she worked teaching English as a second language to children and teenagers and as a Cambridge Speaking Examiner for students taking Cambridge Exams. She ran her own company of written and simultaneous translation services for 5 years in Brazil before moving to the UK in December 2020.
Pete Alston
Theological Intern
pa@relaytrust.org
Pete is from the UK and became a Christian when he was 18 and is so grateful to the men and women who took time and care to read the Bible with him, pray and help him follow Jesus. Since then it has always been his desire to share the gospel with his friends and family. After graduating from Newcastle University, Pete worked for his church doing student ministry and, after that, youth ministry with a Christian charity in Oxford.
He has just finished his second year at Oak Hill Theological College in London where he is training to be a missionary to Japan and is excited to serve as a Theological Intern with the Relay Trust.
Clément Blanc
Theological Consultant
cb@relaytrust.org
Clément is the pastor of a church plant in the suburb of Paris on a large campus. He holds a master’s degree in theology from the Faculté Libre de Théologie Evangélique. His Masters’ thesis was on the relationship between salvation and wealth in the New Testament and by the Church Fathers.
Before becoming a pastor, Clément was an engineer in acoustics. During his years studying engineering, he lived one semester in Chile and one year in the United States.
Clément got married to Barbara, whom he met in seminary in 2015.
Production Team
Maria Silkjær
Production Team Coordinator
ms@relaytrust.org
Maria lives in Denmark and is married to Jens. Together they have three children. She is a trained teacher and animal behaviour therapist and together with her husband she has a dog kennel with doodle puppies
She has a great passion for Africa and is the development consultant in Farming4Life, an agricultural project she started with her husband in 2010. Through her engagement with Farming4Life she has many years of experience with development projects. Maria has been employed in The Relay Trust since 1st August 2019 as their Project and Educational Consultant.
Issa Maguey
Media Production/
Graphic Designer
im@relaytrust.org
Issa was born in Cameroon in a muslim family and despite all challenges after the loss of his father, Issa was able to complete his secondary education and get professional training in graphic, web and motion designs. His passion has always been web design and video editing, but other people have found him gifted in teaching and knowing how to relay on to others what he knows.
In 2012 he started serving as a missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Nigeria, where he occupied different leadership positions. There, he found and got married to his wife, Lorreta. The Lord blessed them with twin boys and a lovely girl. Today Issa and his family live in Cameroon, where they serve with the Academy of the Nations; a ministry they also pioneer. Issa’s dream is to reach the unreached with the message of the gospel using media. That is why he created Go Africa Media, a ministry that trains other people on how to use technology to produce media content to churches. Issa’s hope is to use Relay’s platform to transform and touch more lives across Africa and beyond. Issa has been employed since 1st August 2018.
Philippa Nash
Graphic Designer
pn@relaytrust.org
Philippa is from the UK and is based in London, where she has lived for six years after completing a degree in Graphic Design from Norwich University of Arts.
After finishing her studies, she went on to work as a designer for a global book publishers, before striking out in her own graphic design practice, enabling her to serve her local church in a larger capacity.
Since then, Philippa has worked for a Christian retreat charity, and currently spends part of her week working for her church, where she is Community Manager of the church’s coworking business, alongside her role here at the Relay Trust.
Distribution Department
Djamina Maguey
Marketing & PR
dm@relaytrust.org
Born in Cameroon into a Muslim family, I am the last of five children. After the death of my father, my brothers supervised and guided me until I obtained my baccalaureate in literary series and my registration at the University of Yaoundé 1 in Anthropology. It was from level 1 that I discovered a passion for cultural facts as well as the traditions that surround me and those elsewhere…
Discovering new traditions and finding similarities in the ways of understanding life and religion are my passion and also my challenge. My entourage qualifies me as a good communicator, unifier and good negotiator. My goal is to understand socio-cultures as good as possible, in order to use the best method to send them the message that The Relay Trust wishes to convey.
Lorreta Zock
Training Facilitator
lz@relaytrust.org
Lorreta lives in Cameroon and is married to Issa. Together they pioneered a mission call Go Africa Media, which essentially is developing young people to their highest potential and getting ready for the next phase of their lives. Lorreta is a trained communicator and a social activist. She advocates for the education of young girls in her involvement with organizations such as WOWWI, YWAM and CAYSA. She is a training coodinator with the Relay Trust today and has already impacted several youth across Africa.
Moses Lincoln
Training Coordinator
ml@relaytrust.org
Moses was born in Freetown where he did most of his primary and secondary school education as well as his tertiary education at Fourah Bay College. He did his Masters of Arts in Leadership at the Nairobi International School of Theology now International Leadership University, Lagos campus.
While growing up at the Kissy Police Barracks in Freetown, Moses was upset about teenage pregnancy among his friends and relatives. Many of them dropped out of school which made Moses to decide to make a difference by abstaining from premarital sex. Moses accepted Christ in 1981 while at the Methodist Boys’ High School. He was called into full time Christian service in 1982 in a dramatic way. After taking his Ordinary Level exams, he left Freetown for Tankoro in the Kono District east of Sierra Leone for vacation. It was while there that he became seriously sick. He was lifeless from the sole of his feet to his knees. He thought he was not going to make it the next day as all hope was gone. Before going to bed he prayed a simple prayer, “Lord if you heal me, I will serve you all the days of my life.”
That night Moses had a dream that he vividly remembered. “I was carrying a suitcase and was running very fast towards a crystal clear stream. As I was about to step into it, I heard a voice call, Moses! Moses! Moses! Don’t go this is not your time. I turned back to look at the one that called. It was then that I woke up.” This experience formed the basis of Moses call to full time Christian service.
Moses joined the staff of the Great Commission Movement (GCM) in 1992 in order to help reach the country for Christ through evangelism and discipleship. He led this organization for 12 years when he established offices of GCM in all the regions in the country through the Jesus Film in the language spoken by the people and by facilitating other leadership training.
Apart from serving as a full time staff of GCM, Moses was actively involved in serving God through his church, United Brethren in Christ (UBC), Lumley where he attained many leadership positions like Young Adults President, Church Treasurer, Church Secretary, Sunday school teacher, Youth coordinator and Lay Leader among others. It was during this time that he was encouraged to be ordained as a minister. He heeded to the call and went through the ranks as Local Preacher in Lumley, Licentiate in Goderich and was ordained in February 2011. He was instrumental in the renovation and reconstruction of the UBC Cathedral at Kissy in the east of Freetown.
Moses has helped in planting many churches one of them being that of Peter Kuyembeh UBC at Goderich that he also pioneered as a pastor from 2008 – 2010. He also led n the construction of a parsonage for residing pastors at the Billy K. Simbo UBC Church in Lungi where he served as senior pastor from 2013 – 2017.
Moses main passion is to work with youths and young adults. He was able to help transform the young adults of the UBC Conference thus becoming a positive talking point in the conference. He loves to train the next generation because he believes in the principles of 2Timothy 2:2 where Paul instructed Timothy to tell others what he has heard from him who are qualified to tell others also. He is also actively involved with other Christian organizations and churches where his expertise is needed.
Apart from GCM, Moses has also served in the International Christian Ministry, Global Leadership Summit, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Alpha Sierra Leone and the Grace Evangelistic Ministry where he is sits as a board member.
One person that has impacted Moses most was his grandfather. He renounced chieftaincy for the gospel. He advised Moses not to be proud but to live a life of humility. His grandfather was a disciplinarian who taught him to live a disciplined life. The last time Moses set eyes on his grandfather was after returning from GCM staff training in1993 from Ghana. He advised Moses to be himself, not to create a false impression of himself, live a life of integrity and trust God for every detail of his life.
Moses is married to Adama Lincoln and are blessed with three children. His life verse is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”
Jens Silkjær
Project Consultant
js@relaytrust.org
Jens lives in Denmark and is married to Maria. Together they have three children. He is a trained agricultural company leader and together with his wife he has a dog kennel with doodle puppies
Jens has a great passion for Africa and is the agricultural and innovative consultant in Farming4Life, an agricultural project he started with his wife in 2010. Through his engagement with Farming4Life he has many years of experience with development projects. Jens has been employed in The Relay Trust since 1st August 2019 as their part time Project Consultant.
Lydia Achan
Project Coordinator
la@relaytrust.org
Lydia is married to Mr. Richard with three children. She is a graduate of Development Studies from Uganda Christian University (UCU). While at UCU, Lydia was a Sunday school teacher and worked at the University Library as part of her study scholarship. She attained a certificate in Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation from Uganda Management Institute and certificate in Church Based Development Work from Diakon College Denmark, and a certificate in Financial Sustainability Strategies from Mango UK.
Lydia is passionate about community work, with over ten years’ experience working in community development work through Farming for Life Uganda, where she has been a Team Leader, Coordinator and Project Administrator, working with over ten staff and leading farmers to transform lives. She is a trainer in community livelihood with immense experience in project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of rural community initiatives. Lydia is the co-founder and Director of Global Children Uganda, a community-based organization dealing with disadvantaged children, youth welfare and livelihood. Lydia has also been a centre guide/volunteer at Child Development Centre (CDC) at Victory Outreach Ministries, a field assistant with African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi, and had studethisnt internship training with Lira District NGO Forum and War Child Holland, where her focus was on child welfare. Lydia has been employed by The Relay Trust since 1st April 2021 as the Project Coordinator for Uganda.
Victoria Awori Ogwal
Training Facilitator
ao@relaytrust.org
Victoria Awori Ogwal is Ugandan mother, gospel artist, entrepreneur, and human rights activist. She has been working in the areas of finance and administration for the past 8 years in Farming4Life. She has conducted training on co-operatives, SACCO for farmers and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs). She has also trained in Togo and team from Congo on MANGO Management accounting.
She holds a Master and Bachelors in Business Administration, postgraduate diploma in Project Planning and Management, and a certificate in the international course of Church Based Development Work from Diakonia College in Denmark.
She is passionate about the youth and women in the development process, spreading the love and message of salvation through Gospel music.
Victoria has been employed as a Finance and VSLA facilitator with The Relay Trust Uganda since May 2021.
Gloria Angom
Training Facilitator
ga@relaytrust.org
Angom Gloria is married with three sons. She holds a degree in Business Administration from the Uganda Christian University in Uganda. She attained a certificate in the international course of Church Based Development Work from Diakonia College in Denmark. From this course, she gained a theological understanding on how to serve, love and care for people.
She has five years of experience working with Global Children Uganda. She started as a volunteer and later facilitated as the Administrative Assistant and a field officer, working in the areas of daily operation of the organisation, routinely working, counseling and mentoring, including praying with them during follow-ups and home visits.
Her passion is to see that vulnerable communities (neighbor) are given an equal opportunity to transform their lives. She has been part of the Loving Your Neighbor online group course. Gloria is employed as a community facilitator with The Relay Trust Uganda since May 2021.
Emmanuel Opido
Training Facilitator
eo@relaytrust.org
Emmanuel Opido is a married Ugandan man. He has attained a certificate in Agriculture and is pursuing a Diploma in Agriculture. He has worked for Farming4Life for the past 2 and half years. He has been training on Voluntary Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Farming God’s Way (FGW), poultry keeping, advocacy and health issues in the communities to see the lives of people transformed and for them to know God in all times. He also likes singing in the choir Church. Emmanuel has been employed as a Training Facilitator in Uganda by The Relay Trust since June.
Kenneth Akoko
Training Facilitator
ka@relaytrust.org
Kenneth Akoko is married. He has attained a certificate in Farming God’s Way from Come, Let’s Dance by the Double Portion Farm and a diploma in Public Administration. He has worked for Farming4Life for the past 6 years. He has been training people on Farming God’s Way, hygiene and sanitation, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), and advocacy and lobbying among others. He is passionate about transforming the lives of rural people. Kenneth has been employed as a Training Facilitator in Uganda by The Relay Trust since June.
Systems Department
Alex Bjergbæk Klausen
Director of Systems
abk@relaytrust.org
Alex holds a Bachelor and Master degree in theology from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. During his time at Aarhus University he was chairman of Emmaus Summer Seminary, which offered annual summer training courses for theological students, and chairman of Ecumenical Youth in Denmark, which was part of the international ecumenical movement. He was also actively engaged in student politics.
Alex is specialised in ethics with a special interest in New Testament. He also enjoys studying the early church history. In December 2006, he completed his theological studies and was ordained and employed as pastor January 2007. He served as pastor in the western part of Jutland (Denmark) for a little more than two years, until he and his wife, Mette, were employed as missionaries by Mission Afrika. They travelled to the northeastern part of Nigeria in September 2009, where they were stationed at Brønnum Lutheran Seminary, Yola, Adamawa State. Alex taught at diploma and bachelor’s level and was also partly coordinating the Danish volunteer programme together with Mette. After three years in Nigeria he and his wife were transferred to Sierra Leone in 2013 to build up a new programme called “Theological First Aid”. Through this programme more than 100 lay-readers were trained in the Anglican Diocese of Bo. This programme became the source of inspiration for new projects in West Africa. In 2016 they returned from Sierra Leone and were employed by The Relay Trust to handle similar training projects in West Africa with a specific focus on Christian formation and theological education. Alex has been employed by The Relay Trust since 01.10.2016.
Tim Strauss
Project Manager
Tim served 30 years with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), starting out as a pilot/mechanic in Lesotho, Africa. After 6 years in Africa, he filled in a manager role for a little over a year in Albania, where he experienced firsthand the significant impact that MAF’s communications technology services had to build unity and energize cooperative Gospel outreach across denominations and organizations throughout the country.
He spent the next 16 years in Kazakhstan followed by 4 years in Turkey, where he led MAF’s work in Central Asia, including the process of developing and implementing new technologies for missions. For the last 20 years, his leadership roles have included building and leading teams to accomplish mission and strategic planning, identify organisational culture issues, and impact lives in a varied range of circumstances and settings. His mission experience covers 13 countries and multiple languages. The large portion of that experience has been focused on some of the most unreached countries in the world, working closely with a wide variety of denominations, nationalities, mission organizations and staff of all ages.
In April of 2020, Tim transitioned from MAF to take the Executive Director role with Kolo Group. Due to MAF’s decision to focus on aviation only, it was decided to move the technology services MAF had been providing in the Eurasia region under Kolo Group where we can combine 30+ years of field experience with Kolo’s business and technology development expertise to help mission organisations use technology effectively to exponentially increase their ministry impact.
Léo-Nils Boissier
Developer
lnb@relaytrust.org
Léo-Nils Boissier is a French student from the region of Lyon (South-East of France). He currently studies engineering and entrepreneurship in the university Paris Saclay, 20 miles away from Paris. He loves to discover new things, technologies, people, and to run projects: a Braille printer for blind people (2018), a Christian movie (2018), a 3D simulation software for the audiovisual industry (WIP), some are successful, some are not! For some time now, he has felt the need to use his passion for others. He is grateful that God has opened up this opportunity to work with The Relay Trust.
Programmers
The Relay Trust is using different programmers to solve different parts of the software and hardware development. The programmers are called in to solve specific tasks and normally work on short term contracts.
Relay 200
Charles Raven
Director of Relay 200
cr@relaytrust.org
Charles read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and Theology at Durham University. After a few years in the banking industry, he was ordained into the Church of England and served as an incumbent in regular parish ministry and pioneered the first church in what is now the Anglican Mission in England. He is an honorary Canon of All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi and St Anslem’s Cathedral, Sunyani, Ghana.
From 2012 to 2016, he lived in Kenya and served as Archbishop’s Officer for Anglican Communion Affairs in the Anglican Church of Kenya under Archbishop Eliud Wabukala. This period of living in Africa and travelling widely gave him first-hand experience of the developing world and he continued to travel widely on, returning to England where he served until March 2021 as Membership Development Secretary for the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) with particular responsibility for the development of its nine global networks. Since 2016, he has served as a trustee of Anglican International Development and is actively involved in developing its work, in which church strengthening is a key element. The primary focus is South Sudan, but it is expanding into other areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Charles has written widely on Anglican Communion matters and is the author of a major study of the theology of Rowan Williams and his leadership of the Communion. He has also written numerous articles and is a regular columnist for a UK Christian newspaper.
In Sheffield, Charles assists at Christ Church Central, a growing inner-city congregation which is part of the Anglican Mission in England and heads up its overseas mission support team. He is a widower but blessed with seven grandchildren and enjoys walking in the nearby Peak District National Park. While in Kenya, he was Chairman of the Friends of Nairobi Railway Museum and retains a strong interest in railway history and preservation.
Andrew Wheeler
Relay 200 Consultant
aw@relaytrust.org
Andrew Wheeler is an ordained priest in the Church of England. He and his wife, Sue, served the (Anglican) Episcopal Church in Sudan and South Sudan as mission partners of the Church Mission Society for more than 20 years. Andrew is a theologian and church historian and taught at Bishop Gwynne College and founded the Theological Education by Extension Programme in South Sudan. With the late Bill Anderson he led the “Faith in Sudan” project, researching and writing with Sudanese colleagues on the history of the Church in Sudan. For this work he was awarded a Lambeth Doctorate of Divinity by Archbishop Rowan Williams.
He and his family now live in “slight retirement” in Guildford to the south of London. He is still closely involved in the development of theological education in Sudan.
Administration
Head of Operations and Information Management
Hiring
Finn Kier-Hansen
Strategic consultant
fkh@relaytrust.org
