We are the Holmes family…Aaron, Emily, Ezra, Kyler, and Eden. We are living and serving as Teach Beyond members in the island nation of Mauritius where Aaron is a secondary teacher at Lighthouse Primary and Secondary School, and Emily provides mental health support. Our goal is to love and serve those in the wider world, which is our way of doing our part to make the world a better place and live out our faith which commands us to love one another.
Our History
As a couple, we have always shared a desire to work toward the greater good and have felt compelled toward those who struggle. When we met in college, our first “date” was donating blood together and our second was working on a Habitat for Humanity house. This began a long line of intentional decisions to seek the road “less traveled by.” Shortly after being married in 2003, we joined the Peace Corps and served as English teachers in Chad, Africa. This experience taught us humility, provided us with a larger worldview, and affirmed our commitment to doing what we could to make the world a better place.
Aaron realized his passion for teaching during his time in the Peace Corps. This led him to pursue a career in teaching and earn his master’s degree in education. After the Peace Corps, Emily worked with homeless populations for several years which inspired her to return to graduate school to obtain her degree in clinical mental health counseling. Both Emily and Aaron believe in helping individuals understand their value so that they may succeed and realize their full potential in life.
As we move forward as a family, our hope is to instill the same values of service and humility in our children by exposing them to people and cultures outside of their own and allowing them to take an active role in our lives of service. We hope that they will be people of peace, love, and gratitude as well.
About Lighthouse
Lighthouse Primary and Secondary School was founded in January 2009. Its mission is to make great, international education available to families in Mauritius in a loving, Christ-centered atmosphere. Lighthouse upholds high expectations for its students and aims to stimulate a passion for learning, creativity, and community service through its core values of grace, integrity, caring, curiosity, resilience, and citizenship.
Founded on a charitable trust, Lighthouse provides scholarships to 20-30% of its students, ensuring that high-quality education is available to students regardless of their ability to pay. Lighthouse also strives to serve families in the local community, which is economically disadvantaged. Lighthouse also values diversity and believes that students are enriched by sitting alongside others with a wide range of backgrounds. The student body includes individuals of differing academic aptitudes, races, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic statuses who practice every major world religion and no religion at all. The majority of the student body is Mauritian (60%) complemented by over 20 other nationalities. Visit https://www.lighthouse.edu.mu to learn more.
About Mauritius
The Republic of Mauritius is a beautiful island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the African continent. It has a multicultural and multi-ethnic population descending from Africa, India, and Europe that practices many different religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Mauritius gained its independence from the British in 1965 and currently has a population of 1.265 million. Although public education is available in Mauritius, there is a deficit in high quality education. Only half of Mauritian students are proficient in reading by age 15, and more than 30% of students drop out by the 10th grade. Furthermore, mental health care is still highly stigmatized and is not available in the public school system.
What is Teach Beyond?
Teach Beyond is a global community of followers of Jesus who provide transformational education to children and adults around the world. Their mission is to see individuals and communities become all that God intends, promoting holistic personal growth and enduring social benefit. We are serving at Lighthouse in partnership with Teach Beyond. To learn more about Teach Beyond, visit: https://teachbeyond.org
Support Our Work
In order to keep the cost of tuition affordable for families in Mauritius, Lighthouse requires its staff to help raise their own support. If you would like to partner with us and help support our work at Lighthouse, you may give online through our personal giving page at: https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/holmes. Giving options include monthly, annual, and one-time gifts, and your gifts help support our daily living expenses while we carry out this work. Thank you!
Contact Us
eholmes@teachbeyond.org
aholmes@teachbeyond.org
With Peace, Love, and Gratitude 