Cape Town, South Africa, is among the most beautiful places in the world. But, sadly, the rich, beautiful scenery is sharply contrasted by an appalling level of poverty, crime, abuse and AIDS. This bitter imbalance has touched the hearts of Noah ’02 and Tricia Rivera ’04 Kaye, who recently chose to leave their entire family to focus on Simple Church planting in African countries.

For the last couple of years, a shift had begun to occur in Noah and Tricia’s hearts. “I had more questions than I did answers,” Noah said. “My heart had begun to grow extremely curious, and I knew that there must be more to this church thing than I realized.”

In January 2011, after a soul-searching and enlightening season, Noah and Tricia Kaye moved with their two children, Davis (5) and Lily (4 months) to South Africa to serve as a bridge between Eastern Mennonite Missions and All Nations Southern Africa.

Noah serves alongside Floyd McClung, the founder of All Nations, an organization that is “passionate about igniting church planting movements.” Together, they minister in poor townships, find Africans who have potential for the Kingdom, and work to disciple them so that they can be sent back home to minister in their communities. Noah also teaches in the church planting school, working with Africans from many countries.

Tricia works with an organization called Vulnerable Children South Africa, an access ministry of All Nations. Along with discipling women, she mentors AIDS families and cares for orphan children.

“We now have a heart for discipleship that we’ve never had in our whole lives,” Noah remarked. “We realize that we spent thirty years in church and never experienced intentional discipleship. So this year has been a major life lesson for us.”

All Nations is sending teams to the countries of Malawi, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Swaziland, preparing African leaders to minister to unengaged people groups and to plant churches. Noah is also in the process of launching a coaching network for pastors in the United States who are interested in making some shifts toward the Simple Church vision.

After one extremely exciting, challenging, and life-changing year of ministry in South Africa, Noah and Tricia know that they are exactly where they are supposed to be.

To learn more about the Kaye family, visit their website.