Br James Kimpton celebrated in new biography

A new biography of one of the most celebrated Brothers from these shores has been published to mark the centenary of his birth.

The book entitled ‘Is this enough, Lord?’ celebrates the life of Brother James Kimpton who dedicated much of his life to helping the underprivileged in India and founded the charity, Reaching the Unreached.

It is hoped that the biography will help raise awareness of the wonderful legacy he has left behind as the charity in India still reaches out to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people, particularly children and women in rural villages.

Brother James joined the Juniorate in 1939 in Guernsey, but all the boys were evacuated in 1940 when the Channel Islands were invaded, and they spent most of World War II in the countryside before returning to Beulah Hill in South London. 

He joined the Novitiate in Sussex in 1943 and completed his formation in 1946. After a year teaching at St John’s in Southsea in 1947 and then four years at St Peter’s School in Bournemouth, he left for what was then Ceylon in 1952 to join the brothers in Columbo. When foreigners were told to leave in 1964, he joined the brothers at Boys’ Town near Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. 

He left in 1969 for two years to return to England to gain a ‘wanted’ qualification in civil engineering before returning to India and Boys’ Town.  He never returned home again, and after spending some years setting up Boys’ Village for orphaned boys, he founded a registered organisation called Reaching the Unreached (RTU) nearby, which now has four Children’s Villages for orphaned and abandoned children, schools, educational programmes to improve the educational attainment of children living in poverty in rural villages, women’s Self-Help Groups where they can get access to low-cost loans to invest in rural enterprises, and a wide ranging medical programme. 

In addition, over 9,000 small villages houses have been built to replace mud shacks for those from the lowest castes, and over 2,500 borewells have been drilled. He died in 2017 and is buried in the first Children’s Village, alongside the graves of the children who were brought to him too late to save.

The biography has been written by one of the volunteers who spent seven years with Brother James in the late 70s/early 80s and had access to his journals, as well as a good knowledge of Tamil to interview many people from the early days who knew him.  It is a testament to his life spent in prayer and his determination to help those who were deemed the lowest of the low that makes this book such an inspirational read.

In the early 80s, Reaching the Unreached was registered as a charity in the UK, and continues to raise much needed funds to support his charity in India, which is now led by Father Antony Paulsamy, one of the orphaned boys at Boys’ Village. 

The book can be ordered on our website at a price of £12 and the link is https://www.rtu.org.uk/shop/the-life-and-work-of-brother-james-kimpton.