"Grow Where You Are Planted"

About the Competition

In the church's fourth year, the 2005 essay competition invited writers to reflect on the quiet, daily call to serve faithfully in the place God has put them. The theme — "Grow Where You Are Planted" — was a response to a growing pattern the church observed: young people leaving Pokhara for Kathmandu or abroad in search of purpose, when purpose was often already waiting for them at home.

The competition received 38 entries — a modest but meaningful number for a young church. Writers came from Pokhara-9 and surrounding wards. The judging panel of four included two church elders and two local educators.

Competition Theme

The call to serve faithfully in one's own community — neighbourhood, family, school, and street — as an expression of a rooted, grounded faith.

Writers were encouraged to draw from personal experience or observation, and to reflect on what it means to bloom not elsewhere, but here.

Who Can Enter

• Students and young adults aged 14 to 25 residing in Gandaki Province
• Open to all — members and non-members of the congregation
• Original, unpublished submissions only
• One entry per participant
• Participants may write in English or Nepali

Word limit: 600 – 1,800 words  ·  Language: English or Nepali

Criteria

All submissions are reviewed by a panel of church elders and community educators. Entries are scored across four areas:

Deadlines