Meet our trustees

John is a minister of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. He grew up in Edinburgh and, with a degree in Chemical Physics from Edinburgh University, spent three years teaching science and music at Murree Christian School (MCS) in Pakistan.

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He studied for the ministry at Edinburgh University, and his first charge was in Kirkcaldy, Fife. After six years, he and his wife Gill took their three young children to the Netherlands, where he spent 23 years as minister of the English Reformed Church (ERC) in Amsterdam. For the last 13 years he was also Clerk to the Presbytery of Europe.

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John and Gill returned to Scotland in 2013. They are now well settled in Edinburgh and enjoy the multicultural environment of Stockbridge. After growing up in the Netherlands, their three children returned to the UK for study, and now live in Edinburgh and London. John enjoys music and plays bassoon in the back row of the Stockbridge and New Town Community orchestra, as well as in the digital world.

Alison worked as a freelance fundraiser and as an assessor for various grant-making trusts before retiring in 2019. She is an elder in St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, and is active in its support of Mulanje Mission Hospital in Malawi which she visited in 2013, and in the church’s community cafe. She continues to be involved in various voluntary and community organisations. She is married to Niall and they have 3 sons and 5 grandchildren. She loves singing, and tries to play the accordion.

Jennie currently works for the Church of Scotland, where she is responsible for the work carried out in both Africa and the Caribbean.  She previously worked in Business, where she was a project manager working with telecommunications, both in the UK and abroad. Jennie has over 15 years’ experience of working in cross-cultural settings.

Jennie is a trained mediator and is the lead practitioner for Africa for "Place for Hope".
She is married to Ainslie, who is originally from Zimbabwe, and they have 2 children.  As a family, they worship at Bellevue Chapel in Edinburgh where they are active members.

Before coming to Scotland in 2019, Thorsten worked in the food ingredients industry-leading R&D groups worldwide for over twenty years. He brings a lot of international business and leadership experience to EMMS International.

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For many years Thorsten was an Elder and treasurer of the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam, Church of Scotland.

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Thorsten and his wife Astrid live near Glasgow. Astrid works as a paediatric ENT consultant at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and Thorsten went back to university to train to become a minister in the Church of Scotland.

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Thorsten has a long-standing relationship with Mulanje Mission Hospital in Malawi, which he and Astrid have visited on a regular base. Thorsten is also the Chairman of the Mulanje Mission Hospital Charitable Trust.

Dr Helen Morrison has a background in healthcare and particularly in the field of Palliative Care. Helen worked in the NHS for 24 years after studying medicine at the University of Glasgow. After completing postgraduate specialist training, she became a Consultant in Palliative Medicine and worked in the regional cancer centre serving the West of Scotland. 

Having recently stopped working in the NHS, she is now involved in freelance work and some voluntary activities.

Helen is married to Donald and they have two teenage children. They are all very active members of Glasgow City Free Church, which has been their church family for many years.

Tawachi is a telecommunications engineer. She worked in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) unit of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Malawi for 8 years before coming to the UK for further studies. Over the years, she has developed a passion for technological solutions for business productivity and socio-economic development.

Tawachi is also passionate about Christian student ministry. She has been a member and has volunteered in various capacities at the Student Christian Organisation of Malawi (SCOM) since 1998, through which she has developed skills in Christian stewardship, mentoring and training of students. She congregates at Adelaide Place Baptist Church in Glasgow where she serves on the welcome team.