GET TO
KNOW ANDREW
& GILDA SCRIBNER

My name is Andrew Scribner. I’m an American, but I have been living in the Philippines for 20 years. Before coming here, I was a college student at Plymouth State College studying I.T. and working in the school library. I met my wife, Gilda Estacion Scribner, in the United States where she was studying Environmental Science on a Silliman scholarship in part with USA-ID. We met in a campus Christian fellowship in 1997, and got engaged two years after meeting.

I came over in the year 2000 when I was 23, and I had no idea what to expect. I came to Dumaguete first and stayed with my then-fiancé’s brother in Pulantubig. Four months after arriving, we got married in Davao City — her family is from Malita, Davao Oriental. Gilda had a two-year contract with Silliman University, and we had planned to move back to the U.S. after her contract finished. But plans changed, and we ended up staying here.

I fell in love with Dumaguete City. It really is a beautiful town. Dumaguete is about the same size as my two hometowns, Wilton and Farmington — I consider both of them “my towns” since they were both my hangouts as a child.

Besides falling in love with the city, I started to get involved with the church my wife was going to, and I got a job at a Bible school. In 2003, I bought a small business, Business Atrium, which we sold in 2009. That was good leadership experience I would use later as a pastor. Before, during, and after that time I worked as a web designer, graphic designer, English teacher, and writer.

I became the youth leader (and sometimes Sunday school director) for Word International Ministries Dumaguete in 2002, then the associate pastor in 2011. I am currently the lead pastor of the church. In 2017 I started a children’s charity called Kairos Children’s Fund. We help children of Dumaguete, Sibulan, and San Jose go to school by finding sponsors for them. Currently we have 24 kids in the program. They are also taught good morals and behavior, and we are starting a cooperative store for rice and other products where their parents can earn money and learn to budget their finances.

I don’t think I will move again anytime in the foreseeable future — not until I feel called elsewhere. We may move back to the U.S., but I don’t see that any time soon. I love Dumaguete and feel very much at home here. I have a lot of great friends, mostly Filipino, and a good church and social community. I love the food, the people, and most of all, the church and family. Dumaguete is also very friendly to foreigners, so I find that a plus. Currently, I am the lead pastor of Christ the Rock Ministries, a role I’ve held since 2015.

One of my long-held dreams is the Antioch Missional Training Center. The fields are white, but the workers are few — so Antioch is being built as a place where ministers can be trained to focus on the one thing closest to God’s heart: the redemption of the lost. It will train church planters across Negros, equip those called to be evangelists, and offer a curriculum for overseas missions with a special focus on the least-reached peoples. Right now it is still a vision, but we believe that in 2027 the Antioch Missional Training Center will become a reality.

Gie Arquisal is like a daughter to us — she is our 24-year-old adopted daughter, though not legally adopted. Her parents live in Bayawan City, and we are thankful to have her in our family.