About

Tim Kilpatrick, president of Search Ministries, began his association with the organization more than 30 years ago when he was invited to an open forum in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.

“At Search we love adventure,” Tim says. “That adventure often comes in the form of exploring answers to life’s tough questions.”

Inventor and entrepreneur, the University of North Texas graduate began his career in the oil and gas industry in Houston. He owned several multi-million dollar businesses, including Stramit USA, a Fort-Worth-based construction material manufacturing company he founded in 2011.

Tim was named president of Search Ministries in 2017. He’s a member of the Board of Dallas Theological Seminary and serves as trustee and the chairman of the Advancement Committee. He also serves on the Dallas Seminary Foundation.

Tim and wife Betty live near their four adult children in Fort Worth. He loves Jesus, his family and spending time in the great outdoors, where God reveals His majesty.

Since 2017, Nola Meyer has been a vital part of Search’s national home office. Moving from her native Arkansas to Texas in the 1990s, she worked many years with Search President Tim Kilpatrick as Vice President of Sales for PESCOR Plastics. She encountered Search in Fort Worth during her time there. Through her interaction Search, Nola came to understand the gift of God’s grace through Jesus for the first time, despite being in church her entire life. She now serves as Executive Vice President, overseeing the operation side of the ministry to help free up Search teams across the country so they can focus on sharing Jesus. She also leads the women’s ministry initiative, which was introduced in 2023. In February 2022, Nola joined the Search national board as its first female member. She lives in Fort Worth with her husband, David, and their daughter, Reagan.

Blaine Larsen grew up in Buckley, Washington, and developed a love for music at a young age. He was signed by Sony Music Nashville as a recording artist at the age of 15 and went on to record three studio albums. During his career, Blaine scored eight Top 40 singles on the Billboard country music charts as a solo artist. He has toured with Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson, Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins and Blake Shelton, among other notable country music artists, and was a co-writer on George Strait’s hit song “I Gotta Get To You.” Blaine moved to Nashville at the age of 20 to continue his music career and was quickly connected with SEARCH Nashville, where he was deeply impacted by this ministry. After 12 years in the music business, he joined SEARCH’s staff in Nashville in 2012. Blaine currently resides in Ft. Worth, Texas and serves as Vice President of Field Operations for SEARCH. He is a proud graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary (MACL, 2018). Blaine has been married to Sammie for 15 years and they have three young children.

John joined Search in March 2020. But his relationship with Jesus began in 1975 at a Young Life camp. John earned his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and his master’s degree from Fuller Seminary. John worked for Young Life from 1980 to 2020 in several capacities, most recently holding the position of Executive VP of U.S. Ministries. He and his wife, Carol, have three sons who followed in their dad’s footsteps and “married up,” as well as four grandchildren. John loves to golf, fish, and hunt, and is incredibly humbled and honored to be a part of the Search staff.

Before joining SEARCH in 2016, John spent 16 years as a pastor in Houston and worked in a family real estate business in California. He has always enjoyed helping people think through their questions about God and life and is the author of “Questioning God?: Answers to Questions Worth Asking.” Along the way, he has earned degrees from Trinity University (B.A., Economics), the University of Houston (M.Ed.), Bethel University (M.A., Transformational Leadership), and Biola University (D.Min.). John also enjoys working up a sweat, especially on the tennis court.

Don Barkley has served as the area director for SEARCH in Orange County, California since 1985. Don has led hundreds of discussions in homes, businesses, country clubs and colleges, as well as on recreational retreats to ski mountains, tennis clubs and fishing expeditions. For several years Don served on the board of the Alliance for Spiritual Community, an inter-faith movement providing educational events, including the Religious Diversity Faire at San Juan Capistrano Catholic Mission, and at the University of California Irvine. He also has led weekly open forums at an Orange County treatment center for alcohol and chemical dependency. Don has taught courses as an adjunct instructor at Biola University and Talbot School of Theology. Before SEARCH and after college, he served on the pastoral staff of a church in his hometown of Laramie, Wyoming. He has degrees from Wheaton College and Dallas Theological Seminary. Don and his wife, Ann, live in Laguna Niguel and have four adult, married children and three grandsons.

Why did you choose to join Search? I believe that God really does love and cherish every individual and wants to have a relationship with him or her. If the great news in the Bible about Jesus is true, then there is no greater mission than to help people toward God. When I met the Search staff in 1984, I found people who were as excited about Jesus and about sharing this great news as I was. 

As Director of Administration for Search, Cheryl brings her experience working with both private and non-profit organizations to the job of overseeing payroll, benefits and office operations. After earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Towson University, Cheryl spent eight years with a private firm doing their accounts receivable and accounts payable accounting. She followed that with five years of service at a private Christian school. Search found her as she was working with another non-profit administering grants to serve the local community. It was a perfect combination of skill set and ministry. “I enjoy working behind the scenes to help support the team,” Cheryl said, “so they can do what they do best.” Cheryl and her husband, Topher, live in Fort Worth, Texas, and have one adult child.

As Director of Field Systems & Services, Val Williams oversees all the systems and resources the field staff requires in managing their local offices including the vital Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, system. Additionally, her team provides support for team members’ individual activities, such as developing and generating needed reports. For hardware and software troubleshooting, Val manages Search’s relationship with its managed IT services provider. A graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in business, she spent her career in the technology arena, overseeing systems for plant management and control for the textile industry and later as an independent systems analyst consultant. In 2007, she and her husband, Perry, joined a couples Bible study headed by Search Greenville Area Director David Martin and his wife, Elaine. When the opportunity arose to put her professional skills to work in service of Search’s mission, she jumped at it. “It’s not work for me,” Val said. “It’s my ministry where I can put my skillset to use.” Val and Perry split their time between Greenville and Charleston. They have a grown son, Hunter, who calls Greenville home.