ASTR Staff

David Trim was born in Bombay, India, to missionary parents and spent his childhood in Sydney, Australia. Educated in Australia and England, he earned a BA in history from Newbold College and PhD in history from King’s College in London. Trim was on the faculty of Newbold College for a decade, and held the Walter C. Utt Chair in History at Pacific Union College. He has also held visiting fellowships at the Huntington Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. In 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. A prolific author, he has authored, co-authored or edited seventeen books, and his other publications include over 150 articles and chapters in scholarly journals, popular magazines, and books. He has served as Director of the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research since 2010.

Roy Kline has an undergraduate degree in business administration and a graduate degree in hospital management. Having worked within private sector healthcare administration for 25 years, he accepted a call to the mission field of the Southern Asia SDA and served six years as CEO of Scheer Memorial Hospital, Kathmandu and Aizawl Adventist Hospital, Mizoram, India. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, ASDAL, Society of American Archivists, and ARMA, International.

Dragoslava Santrac earned a PhD in Old Testament from North-West University, RSA/Greenwich School of Theology, UK, and MA in Biblical Languages and Old Testament from Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI. As a teacher of biblical studies in the past fifteen years, Santrac taught at Belgrade Theological Seminary, Serbia, and University of the Southern Caribbean, Trinidad, and continues to serve as an adjunct professor of religion at Washington Adventist University, Takoma Park, MD. Her background includes experience in editorial positions with South-East European Union, TED, and the BRI of the GC. She has authored several books and articles on Old Testament theology, the book of Psalms, and biblical studies.

An experienced Global Talent Mobility Specialist, Margarita S. Neyra previously served the Church in the General Conference Secretariat and International Personnel Resources and Services (IPRS) departments, where her main responsibility was to assist missionary families prepare and move from their home countries to many parts of the world to preach the Gospel, and then return home after completing their term of service. During the last 5 years in IPRS, Maggy also served as the International Service Employee Working Policy editor.

Originally from Mexico, Maggy is a third-generation Adventist; coming from a paternal family of SDA workers, pastors, administrators and healthcare providers. She moved to the U.S.A. with her family in 1999 when she was called to serve at the Youth Department of the Texas Conference in the Southwestern Union Conference, and to Maryland, when she was called by the General Conference Secretariat, in 2002.

Safary Wa-Mbaleka joined ASTR as the Research and Evaluation Manager in 2024. As a son of a pastor, he developed the passion for mission from a young age. As a result, he was inspired to serve the Church in different places starting with Holbrook SDA Indian School (Arizona, USA) as a high school teacher and then as assistant professor of TESOL at Antillean Adventist University (Puerto Rico), a director of online instructional design at Herbert Fletcher University (Miami, USA), an associate professor of education at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (Philippines), and dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at the Adventist University of Africa (Kenya). He is a prolific author in various fields of his specialization. He has an EdD in curriculum and instruction, a PhD in online education, and is completing a PhD in qualitative research.

Ashlee Chism earned a BA in English from Southern Adventist University and a Master of Science in Information, specializing in Archives and Records Management, from the University of Michigan. Previously, she was a student librarian at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. She has written several articles and is a member of the Society of American Archivists and ARMA International.

Elizabeth Henry earned a Master's in Architecture with a Minor in Information Systems from Andrews University. She also holds a Masters of Information Science degree from Nova Southeastern University. She started her career in the Inter-American Division (IAD) as an Administrative Assistant and as part of the team digitizing records for the Treasury Department. She later became the Digital Document Management Director of the IAD. She joined the ASTR Staff in the spring of 2020 as the Digital Records Manager.

Meredith began her work in the General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR) in May of 2000 after earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in management from Washington Adventist University (at that time Columbia Union College). She worked in ASTR until November of 2007 before transiting to the North American Division (NAD) where she last served as the Assistant Director in the Office of Archives and Statistics. In her work with NAD, she also served as the Assistant Director in the Vice President’s Office of Strategy, Research, and Assessment as well as Project Manager for the Church Resource Center. In 2005, she earned a Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in technology management from the University of Phoenix.

Michael Younker completed his Ph.D in Theology, Philosophy, and Adventist Studies from Andrews University in 2019. He also has a BA in History, and is completing an MA in Islamic Studies from Middle East University. Previously, he has been a chaplain and taught courses for Middle East University in Lebanon, as well as taught courses for the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, both on campus in Michigan, and at off-campus locations such as Cernica, Romania. He has also supervised online courses for the Seminary in the Church History and Theology departments. He is a consulting editor for the online ministry The Compass Magazine, and the managing editor for the Journal of the Adventist Theological Society (JATS). He joined ASTR in 2019 as an Educational/Historical Research Specialist.

Jina Bacchus is a wellness enthusiast. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree at Southern Adventist University and MPH at George Washington University. Before joining ASTR as Research Assistant, she worked for the University of Maryland, Baltimore, as a work-life and wellness manager. She also had experience working for the Church as the wellness coordinator for Adventist Risk Management. She has a passion for promoting resources related to the Church’s mission. She is married to Ricardo Bacchus, who is currently serving at the Columbia Union Conference and, together, they have two sons.

Reiko Davis attended Southern Adventist University where she studied Office Administration. Subsequently she worked for several years as Information Systems Coordinator for Integra Rehabilitation, joining the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research in 2009. Her responsibilities grew to serving as Departmental Secretary in 2012, Administrative Assistant to the department director in 2015, and now being ASTR’s Office Coordinator and assistant to the director since 2020.

Magela de Souza was born in Brazil and has served the Church as professor of religious education, chaplaincy coordinator, and elementary school teacher and principal. She holds an MA in Religious Education from Andrews University and a BA in Theology from Northeast Brasil College. She joined ASTR in 2012 and helps the team to digitize documents and other records relevant for the memory and history of the Church.