Essay Contest Update

I thought I would take a quick moment to update everyone on the 2008 Essay Contest.

• We received 3 times the number of essays we were expecting.
• 2/3 of those essays were sent in the final 24-36 hours.
• The top countries submitting essays:
  1. USA
  2. India
  3. Nigeria
  4. Philippines
  5. Canada
• The top states submitting essays:
  1. California
  2. Texas
  3. New York
  4. Illinois
  5. Ohio
• The top submitting city in the US was: Palo Alto, CA
• We received essays submitted from over 67 countries and states
• All the essays are now out with the first round judges

Thank you all once again for spending time thinking and writing your essays.

Tsunami of Essays

The Essay Contest is now closed

The staff here in the Oakseed office would like to thank everyone who took the time to write and submit an essay to the 2008 International Essay Contest focusing on Compassion and children with disability. It was an amazing last 24 hours, every single time we checked the submissions the number kept rising at exponential rates (Over 500 essays submitted in the final 24 hours). Right now we’ve got several desk piled high with essays getting processed and ready to be distributed to the judges.

Many of you have been emailing questions about the judging process and what the next steps are in the contest. Hopefully the following information will help.

1. April 17 - May 2 : The first round of judging takes place. Historically, about 10% of the essays make it out of the first round.
2. May 2 - May 16 : Second round of judging.
3. May 16 - May 30 : Final round of judging.
4. May 31 : Winners will be notified by email or phone and the names of the winners (as well as their essays) will be posted on this site. (www.oakseed.org)

Thank you again, and stay tuned for some exciting news.

Podcast - March 5th, 2008

In this episode, Dr. Edward Bradley interviews Brenda Darke, a leading expert in dealing with children with disabilities throughout Latin America.

Podcast - November 28th, 2007

In this episode, Dr. Edward Bradley interviews Jackie Mills-Fernald, the director of Access Ministry at McLean Bible Church.

Podcast - April 7th, 2007

In this episode, Dr. Edward Bradley interviews two middle school students, (Carolyn M. & Georgia P.), about their work in raising awareness about Child Labor issues, Ian Drake from Letra Viva in Costa Rica shares a meditation and churches around the world are invited to participate in the 2007 Annual Day of Prayer for Children at High Risk.

Oakseed Ministries Podcast - January 31, 2007

Contents of Podcast:

• Oakseed now has a new look to their website.
• Youth around the world have a new essay contest for the year 2007. Compassion and Child Labor
• Get the latest info about the June 3rd, 2007 - Annual Day of Prayer for Children at High Risk
• Listen to a special presentation of last years winning essay.

Podcast - March 18th, 2006

Topics discussed on this episode:

• Children at Risk
• Interview with Jim McDonald, Bread for the World
• 2006 Essay contest about Compassion and the Starving Child.
• Updates about the Annual Day of Prayer.