David Glenn Searcy

On August 24, 2025, David Glenn Searcy graduated from this earthly journey and is now home with his Savior whom he loved and served all his life. “He has fought the good fight, he has finished the race, and he has remained faithful. 8 And now the crown of righteousness is finally his… (2 Timothy 4:7-8a). He was 75 years old.

David was born on March 3, 1950, in Vinita, Oklahoma to Margaret Mary (Robinson) and W. Glenn Searcy. David’s parents had met at Moody Bible Institute and married after graduation. At the time David was born they were serving the Lord in a small community church in Langley. A brother, Daniel, was born in 1951. The family would continue to serve the Lord in several different communities throughout eastern Oklahoma before settling in Antlers.

As a young child David heard his mother explain God’s way of salvation. And believing that he was a sinner who needed a redeemer, he trusted that Jesus had paid the price for his sins by dying on the cross. Initially as a youth it was not his first plan to serve the Lord but when the Lord called him, he answered and never turned his back on that commitment. In doing so, he said he never had any regrets.

During David’s high school years, he attended Markoma Bible Academy, a Christian boarding school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He graduated in 1968, then went on to attend Dallas Bible College for one year. Following that year he spent another year at Kansas State University in Wichita.

While in Wichita during the summer of 1970, David worked for a man named Eldo Anderson who began to challenge David to do something with eternal value. David made up his mind at that point that he wanted to live his life doing something that would not be burned up but would last forever (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Thus when the opportunity was presented to him, he signed up for missionary training with Ethnos360, then New Tribes Mission.

With the goal of serving the Lord overseas, David attended New Tribes Bible Institute for a year. It was there that he met Teresa Barnhill. And on June 13, 1971, they married in Racine, Wisconsin. They went on to complete missionary training first in Ovieda, Florida, and then Camdenton, Missouri.

While still in training in Camdenton they had two daughters. The first, Rebekah, and the second, Rachel. Then in August of 1975 the Searcy family left the United States and moved to the city of Pontianak in Indonesia. And in December of that year God gave them an extra special early Christmas present, their son David James (DJ) was born.

After a year of national language study, the Searcys moved to the Upper Kapuas region of the province of West Kalimantan and began language study with the Punan ethnic group. There they would continue ministering among the Punan people over the next forty years. First building relationships as they learned language and culture and then evangelism and church planting. In this process David was involved in many facets of ministry including linguistics as they wrote a previously unwritten language, literacy as they taught the people to read and write, Bible translation and the development of Bible lesson materials as a group of believers grew into a functioning church. In the later stages of the church planting ministry, David was involved in numerous outreach efforts to other villages and networking with other churches so that when the missionaries were gone the church would continue to grow.

In 2016 David and Teresa moved back to the United States and settled in Mansfield, Ohio. Not one to sit still and relax in retirement, David became an avid gardener, giving most of his produce away to his neighbors or church family. He worked painting houses but probably did more pro bono work than he did for wages. Here too David and Teresa continued to serve the Lord by caring for family and also becoming involved in a local body of believers. David also made numerous trips back to Indonesia to strengthen the churches in Kalimantan. Then in 2024 he became the pastor of the Owl Creek Church of the Brethren where he served for more than a year. He was preparing a sermon for the following Sunday when he experienced the first symptoms of his terminal illness.

As a young man David committed his life to seeking those things that would have eternal value, namely the souls of people. And until we reach heaven we will not know the number of people whom he influenced for salvation. For sure there are hundreds among the Punan people who know that if David had not allowed God to take him around the world in order to share the Gospel with them they would not have an eternal home in heaven. There isn’t a church member in the Upper Kapuas region who doesn’t remember one of David’s favorite illustrations of the person who only hears the Word but does not obey – ngimbai ngimbai megang. In his last conversation with his good friend Kolingong, David gave this charge: “We who believe have hope. We know that we will never die. But there are so many people who do not yet have this hope. Don’t stop teaching the Word of God to those who have not yet believed.”

Second only to his Lord, David loved his wife, Teresa. His greatest honor was to care for her and the family God gave them. He never stopped finding ways to care for his children and his grandchildren because they were his pride and joy.

David is survived by his wife, Teresa Barnhill Searcy; his daughters, Rebekah (Zachary) Morris and Rachel Searcy and son, David James (Jennifer) Searcy; granddaughters, Sarah (Kody) Helms, Areli Searcy, Galilee Searcy and grandson Tyndale Searcy; and his brother, Daniel (Michele) Searcy along with six nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to Ethnos360, with a note in memory of David Searcy, for “IND-TPUN”. TPUN is the Punan ministry.

Ethnos360

312 West First Street

Sanford, Florida 32771-1231

Ph # 407-547-2345

A celebration of David’s life will be held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at Crossroads Church-Ontario Campus, 636 Lexington-Springmill Road South.

Wappner Funeral Directors and Crematory-Ontario is honored to serve the family.