James Kerkula 
Still Running 
Lessons on Divine Intervention Versus Personal Resilience: a Life-Transforming Journey of an African Orphan Across the Atlantic

Still Running combines the authors love for running with his greater love for God into an incredible story, intended as an encouragement for the reader to run his or her own race in life. This true story is about an African orphan who experienced death at an early age when his mother suddenly died from a two-day illness. Without an adult guardian, he put himself through school and eventually matriculates across the Atlantic, where he becomes a crusader against poverty. Incorporating sport metaphors to teach lifes lessons, the book is in part an autobiography and an inspirational manual. Its main takeaway is the role of divine intervention versus personal resilience in human pliancy.

This book is a tribute to the millions of African children whose childhoods are mired in unimaginable poverty: At least fifty percent of its proceeds go to support the Liberian Education Initiative: African School of the Future (LEI), a proposed model K–12 education environment focused on college preparatory education, sustainable development, and servant leadership.

About the author

James has worked extensively in Christian missions and the development finance industry for more than thirty years. His work among the poor has been featured in mainstream media, including the Philadelphia Business Journal and the American Banker. He testified before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Empowerment in 1998.

He is a prolific runner–completing a number of marathons, including the Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Steamtown marathons. A product of an Eastern University graduate program, James attended undergraduate school at the University of the Virgin Islands and Bluewater Bible College, where he was valedictorian for his class. He’s president of Compassion Capital Fund, an emerging community development financial intermediary serving the African Diaspora on the east coast of the United States.