Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’
John 8:12
Teach. Tell. Transform.
Former public high school teachers, Ethan & Amanda Hutton, along with their three children Aubree, August, & Ezekiel, have served as mission partners in Costa Rica since 2017.
Ethan and Amanda lead the Costa Rican religious, non-profit association LightHouse Transformation Ministries (LightHouse).
Through their roles as president and vice-president of the board of directors and as executive director of LightHouse, Ethan and Amanda seek to use education as a means to facilitate social progress while building meaningful relationships. It is through these very relationships that they are able to tell of the love, hope, and joy of Christ, transforming lives both on this earth and eternally.
The mission of LightHouse is to facilitate discipling opportunities through meaningful relationships via non-formal education, community involvement, and support of local churches. Ethan develops the long-term vision, directs the planning and implementation of the programs, and trains the 7 team members in the vision, activities, and relationship building.
Throughout the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, generational cycles exist in families, including broken homes, abuse, poverty, and human trafficking. Among these, the trauma of abandonment predominately affects much of the population.
With goals and strategies of a consistent presence, interpersonal connection, resilience building, and pointing to the Lord as the perfect attachment figure, Ethan and Amanda are striving to lead LightHouse in impacting lives with the hope of a brighter future.
LightHouse has a consistent presence at the Parrita public high school, which the Ministry of Public Education has made a model high school for the nation based on the LightHouse programs.
In the Parrita public high school, the team provides multiple services to have a social impact while building meaningful relationships, including Native English Speaker Practice, Lunch Activities, and Foreign Language Teacher Training.
The team works with all ninth and tenth grade English classes for an hour once every two weeks to practice English in small groups using Comprehensible Input methodology.
Every day of the week during the lunch period, the team facilitates dynamic and fun activities designed around experiencing core values to acheive the development of character, resilience, and a positive school environment.
Additionally, Amanda has led multiple trainings in Language Acquisition methodology for the English and French foreign language teachers.
Amanda has also been helping develop a ministry in partnership with Young Life to provide the very strong need for community among adolescent moms, leading them in their relationship with each other and with the Lord.
Ethan, Amanda, Aubree, August, and Ezekiel live on the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica in the village of Bejuco, Parrita, where they are present in the local communities. Aubree, August, and Ezekiel open up countless doors into local homes, where they are able to build relationships and intentionally share the Gospel message. Their home is often opened to welcome and include people into their lives, often centered around food and/or coffee.
Before moving to Costa Rica in August 2017, Ethan and Amanda were public high school teachers in Schuyler, Nebraska. Amanda taught Spanish as a foreign language and coached the dance team. Ethan taught biology, and coached the soccer team. Ethan also enjoyed driving bus for extracurricular activities.
They were both Concordia University, Nebraska graduates. Amanda earned a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education in Spanish and Music, and she’s earned a Master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and she recently earned a graduate certificate in Trauma and Resilience. Ethan has earned Bachelor’s degrees in Theology and Biology along with his Secondary Education Teaching Certificate later on.
Both Ethan and Amanda are passionate about applying their love of teaching youth to their ministry context in order to best serve the people of Costa Rica and to share the love, hope, and joy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Teach to the impact.
Tell of the love, hope and joy.
Transform for life.
Any funds raised that exceed Mission Partner’s Total Cost of Missionary Service may be used to further support Mission Partner in missional activities, or Mission Partner may donate, after consultation with the Executive Director, any excess funds to one or more Mission Partners who are in good standing with MCN or to MCN’s General Fund. The purpose for this is that any funds raised are to support missional activities throughout the world.
PRAY
