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OREM — Utah Valley University students Austin Bagley and Hayden Manwaring recently won $10,000 for their faith-promoting video, "Turn on Your Light."
The video features a 16-year-old girl named Prim, who was adopted from Zimbabwe when she was 5 after her birth mother died from cancer.
Prim shares her faith of praying and reading her scriptures.
Bagley and Manwaring entered the video into the Faith Counts contest, and ended up winning the Fan Favorite Award.
The video has more than 3,000 views on YouTube and sustained over 7,000 votes, Bagley said.
Bagley said it felt unreal when he found out they won Tuesday, but he is stoked.
Although the contest is over, he said, the video is still on the Internet and can help people find hope through Prim's story, whatever their circumstances may be.
Related:
UVU students' faith-promoting video in top 10 finalists
Two Utah Valley University students are finalists in a faith-promoting video contest and could win up to $20,000.He said it is highly beneficial for people who have faith-related questions in countries where their only source is the Internet.
"You're not allowed to preach in some countries, I know, and so they turn to the Internet to get their sources and get more information," Bagley said.
Manwaring said he was relieved and excited that they won the contest, and it feels like a stepping stone for future projects and contests.
He said winning the contest "kind of gave me a little bit of confidence that maybe we can make some high quality stuff for future projects and competitions and contests and things like that."
The two would love to participate in another Faith Counts video contest if the organization does it again, but for now, they have their mind set on another video contest, Bagley said.
The It Starts Now contest calls for video stories related to obesity that will inspire the public. The winning videos will premiere during ObesityWeek℠ 2015 in Los Angeles, according to the website.
Manwaring and Bagley hope to someday work for the film department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
