Olive Branch Church · Essay Competition
2003 · Prize: NPR 4,00,000 · Winner: Binita Rai
The 2003 Olive Branch Church Essay Competition — "God's Grace in Our Lives" — was the first formal writing competition organised by the church. Launched in our second full year of ministry, it was created to give young people in Gandaki Province a platform to reflect on their faith through the written word.
Writers were invited to share personal stories, theological reflections, or community observations — all centred on the theme of grace: how God's undeserved love has appeared in their lives, their families, and their neighbourhoods.
The competition drew 42 entries from students across Pokhara and surrounding areas. Submissions were reviewed by a panel of three church elders and two educators.
How God's grace has shaped personal life and transformed communities.
Writers were encouraged to approach the theme through personal narrative, theological reflection, argumentative essay, or a combination of these forms.
Word limit: 1,000 – 2,500 words · Language: English or Nepali
All submissions are reviewed by a panel of church elders, educators, and community representatives. Entries are scored across four weighted criteria:
Binita Rai, aged 19 at the time of her submission, was a student in Pokhara. Her essay — titled "What We Did Not Deserve" — drew on her family's experience of near-collapse and unexpected support during a period of serious illness, weaving Scripture and personal narrative into a reflection on grace that arrives without being earned and without announcement. The judging panel praised the essay for its honesty, its grounding in the Biblical text, and its "clear, unhurried prose that never mistakes sentiment for faith." Binita's essay was read aloud in full at the church's Sunday service on June 3, 2003 — the first time the church had ever done this for a competition winner.