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

Copyright © 2014 James Kerkula.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3153-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3152-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3154-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905766

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/7/2014

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction: Events That Triggered This Book

Part I: Divine Providence vs. Personal Resilience—Evidence in Search of a Verdict

1.   Evidence 1: Saved from the Jaws of an African Leopard

2.  Evidence 2: A Childhood Decision That Changed My Life

3.   Evidence 3: Running as a Cure for Migraines

4.   Evidence 4: K-through-College Education (and a Heart) Breaks Intergenerational Poverty

Part II: In the Beginning—A Million Little Pieces

5.   The First Beginning: The Little Boy Who Could

6.   The Second Beginning: Miracles in Kakata

7.   The Third Beginning: A Father’s DNA

8.   The Fourth Beginning: Life inside an African Inner City

9.   The Fifth Beginning: Journey across the Atlantic

10.   The Sixth Beginning: Coming to America

11.   The Seventh Beginning: Intentional Self-Abandonment

Part III: Still Running—The Building Blocks of Personal Resilience

12.   Train Your Heart and Mind to Work Together: A Thinking of Personal Resilience

13.   Train Your Body to Obey You: A Conditioning of Personal Resilience

14.   Don’t Hang Up Your Sneakers: An Attitude of Personal Resilience

15.   Running Butt Naked: A Habit of Personal Resilience

Part IV: Divine Providence: A Vision of God Propels Personal Resilience

16.   Divine Providence: A Vision of God—Not A Substitute for Personal Resilience

17. Your Time Is Limited—So Ask the Right Questions

18.   Endure Hardship to Ensure Your Divine Birthright

19.   The Finish Line: Run Well to Leave a Legacy in the Minds of People

20.   Letter to My Beloved Just

Notes

Bibliography

Foreword

As a friend and Liberian ambassador to the United States, I am pleased to respond to James’s request to write the foreword for his book.

This book tells the harrowing story of an African child and his adaptability to life’s challenges. James’s personal experience and background in Christian mission and economic development across the Atlantic qualifies him as the ideal author for such a book.

He describes the book as lessons on Divine Intervention and Personal Resilience. I agree that it is the best of that, but the book is much more. It is easily a summary guide on audacity, inspiration, and the power of education.

I have known James only for a brief period, but his intense drive about poverty issues has left an indelible mark on me. This book will take you into his experience and vision of inner-city America and his native Liberia. Further, the reader will benefit from the author’s advice on personal health based on his twenty-plus years as a runner and fitness enthusiast.

Moreover, the book delves into other areas of life that you may care about. In addition to a summary of the author’s personal life story (part II), the book explores topics such as the role of higher education in reducing extreme poverty, personal decision making versus the grace of God, critical cornerstones of resilience, and the value of striving for a meaningful legacy.

I hope that you will not only enjoy this book as an easy leisure reading as I did but, most important, make it an essential part of your personal learning library for years to come.

Sincerely,

Jeremiah C. Sulunteh

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Embassy of the Republic of Liberia

5201 16th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20011

Preface

Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up and knows it must outrun the fastest lion or be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up and knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope—when the sun comes up, you’d better be running!

—African proverb

Preface

Still Running is the story of my personal struggles and triumphs as an African orphan. My story is a tiny example of the grim reality of most African children whose childhoods are mired in unimaginable poverty and hardship. The majority of these children are confronted with dire circumstances every moment of their lives. They are plagued by hunger and starvation, homelessness, gender and tribal-based violence, diseases, and a spectrum of adversities. Most survive by their personal resilience, handouts from strangers, and by the incredible grace of God.

Although surrounded by daunting hardships, some manage to acquire can-do spirits to overcome inconceivable afflictions. They see the future with their mind’s eyes and use their wills as offensive weapons against overwhelming odds. Miraculously, the lucky few succeed to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, writers, entrepreneurs, world-class athletes, scientists, and statesmen/women. The lives of millions of others hang in the balance—most dying before their tenth birthdays or during young adulthood. I know their story firsthand because I am one of them.

This book is dedicated to the children described above. Specifically, we are contributing at least 50 percent of its proceeds to the Liberian Education Initiative: African School of the Future (LEI). LEI is a proposed model K–12 educational environment with an integrated curriculum focusing on college prep education, sustainable development, and servant leadership. We believe that accessible and quality education could be the equalizing game changer for African children.

Still Running is more than a book about physical fitness or a memoir or autobiography. It’s a Pilgrim’s Progress and an inspirational manual centered on divine providence and personal resilience.

Part I is a preview of the rest of the book—evidence of the little miracles in the author’s early childhood. Part II is a summary of his journey on both sides of the Atlantic. Part III covers the essential building blocks of personal resilience. Part IV encourages readers to strive for meaningful legacies in light of divine providence.

While each section of the book is part of a whole, the lessons about divine providence and personal resilience in each chapter and part may be grasped separately.

As they say in Africa, it doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope—when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. Your pedigree matters very little in the long view of divine providence: it doesn’t matter whether you were born rich or poor or on which continent you were born; when the sun comes up you better begin running.

There will be good and not-so-good times along your journey, but your success depends on two things: divine providence and personal resilience. You have control over one of these but not the other. You never know when divine providence will intervene in your life, but you can persevere through personal resilience.

And so, live well and keep on running, my friend!

Introduction

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.

—Maya Angelou

Introduction: Events That Triggered This Book

Still Running is an assessment of my growing up in Africa and journey to the Caribbean and the United States narrated in a series of seven beginnings. Along the way, I am learning that life turns on the wheels of divine intervention and personal resilience: good decisions backed by concrete actions. Often, the margin between success and failure is a single decision.

Some argue we are in complete control of our destinies as captains of our souls. That may be true, but it’s not so simple. Each of us is responsible for the decisions we make. We can shape our tomorrows by the decisions we make, backed by concrete actions. As Paul put it, Whatsoever a man [woman] sows that shall he [she] also reap (Galatians 6:7, KJV). But on another level, we are fragile beings with no direct control over our destinies or the outcome of our labor. Again, Paul: So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:7, NIV).

As you will see from my story, some things are our responsibilities while others are God’s. It’s our responsibility to exercise regularly, eat properly, keep a sound mind, and regularly visit the doctor. It is God’s responsibility to keep us healthy and give us long lives. Our hard work of healthy living may pay off, but there is no guarantee. Good health and logevity are the prerogative of the divine arbiter. Nonetheless, we must do our part and leave the outcome to God (or a big bang for those of you who are not religious). Just as physical life comprises body and spirit, so too does a purpose-driven life requires personal resilience and dependence on divine providence. Embracing one without the other may lead to unpleasant surprises.

It is said that procrastination is an enemy of personal resilience, the grave in which opportunity is buried. I will add that procrastination is the graveyard of divine providence and personal resilience.

I started long-distance running in the early 1990s, and it enabled me to overcome debilitating migraines. But answering my soul’s urging to write a book has not been easy. I have written business plans, white papers and other materials for employers, friends, and the universe; but I never wrote for myself. I have accumulated boxes of pads with titles of books to be, but none has made it to print. The culprit? Well, blame the enemy of personal resilience, procrastination!

But the following five unexpected events gave me a wake-up call. They helped me realize that my window of opportunity would run out if I kept procrastinating.

Event 1: Telephone Conversation with a Friend

My wakeup call to write from the soul began with a conversation with Carlos Wards, a buddy of mine who is a certified financial planner. I asked him to facilitate a financial management workshop my organization was conducting in Philadelphia. Carlos asked me if I was still running. I’m still running, I replied.

He followed up with a surprising question. "Why don’t you write a book called Still Running?" I paused for a minute. Still Running was among my hundred titles of books I wanted to write. I told Carlos his suggestion was intriguing and had a real possibility.

I began trying to think of the reasons why none of my hundred titles of books had not been written. Oh yes, I’ve had my share of wasted opportunities and felt guilty for a moment about all the time I had wasted. But my mind captured the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of it … I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize. (Philippians 3:12–14, NIV)

I was encouraged by this passage and energized by Carlos’s suggestion. Like the decision I had made a couple of months earlier to leave the nine-to-five workplace, I told myself that I would begin writing from the heart and that Still Running would be my first book. The book would be about more than just running; a good part of it would be about life’s lessons I have learned. It would include the good and bad choices I have made, the peaks and valleys I have experienced, and the legacy I wish to leave.

As I was introspecting, it dawned on me that half my life was already over, but it felt that my life had begun the previous day. If history is a guide, my journey on earth will soon be over. Hence, I need to treat my priorities with urgency. As I reflected, the lyrics of a popular 1970s Christian song by Cristy Lane, One Day at a Time, came to mind.

One day at a time sweet Jesus that’s all I’m asking of you.

Give me the strength to do everyday what I have to do.

Yesterday’s gone sweet Jesus and tomorrow may never be mine.

So for my sake teach me to take one day at a time.

My conversation with Carlos and personal reflection shocked my inner core and put me on the edge. The truth about procrastination was not philosophical head knowledge anymore; it convicted me. As with running, I was ready to start writing.

Event 2: Quiet Assurance from a Former Running Buddy

The second event took place at the Barnes & Noble at Eighteenth and Walnut in Philadelphia. While sitting there, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Muhammad H. Almaliky, MD. Muhammad and I had lived in the same condominium building at 2601 Pennsylvania Avenue for many years. He was among my running buddies around the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

During our few minutes of conversation, Muhammad gave me his business card and said he was a candidate in the midcareer master’s of public administration program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

We decided to meet the next day to talk about Harvard; I was shopping for the ideal school as a launching pad for a new career, and Muhammad thought Harvard offered a good opportunity.

We met the next morning at La Colombe coffee shop on Nineteenth Street (near Rittenhouse Square Park); our conversation was one of the best I had had in a long time. The two hours felt like fifteen minutes not because of conversation about Harvard but because of what I learned from Muhammad. We talked very little about Harvard. Our conversation assured me that my path in life of working with the poor was not in vain.

Muhammad, an Iraqi Shiite Muslim, said, "Although we all dread living like Jesus, all of us would like to be like him—not because we believe he will make us rich, but because of his heart for humanity. This is the highest ideal our hearts yearn