What does the Owl do?

The first thing I want to do is explain The Owl and its two counterparts as I've been able to understand them over the last month. First, The Owl is a place for climbers to be at home. Our goal is to serve everyone who comes in, anything that they need. Amazing, gourmet, fair trade coffee? We're good at that. Need to call mom? We are set up for you to do that for free. Need to recieve a package with gear you forgot at home? Use our mailbox. Check your email? Use our loaner computer. The best part about that is that the Lord has made it so that Climbers come to us looking to solve these problems and that gives us a way to make an initial connection with them. From there we develope relationships with them. Common opportunities are: joining them for a day of climbing, eating meals with them, or just hanging out in the coffee shop with them so that the rest day doesn't get too boring.

The next part of the ministry is where the money from The Owl goes to. Thirty percent of the money that The Owl makes goes directly into an account to help build a middle school in a nearby town called Mission. The small/medium sized population in Mission consists of women, children, and cartel. Most of the men have gone to other places to find jobs. Right now the town does not have a middle school and most people are too poor or not motivated enough to pay the money to ride the bus to the next town for school. With the help of the local church, we hope to build a middle school in that town this summer.

The third part of this ministry is the church in a town called El Carmen. This church has had a very fruitful ministry and is where Andrew and Gena (the owners of The Owl) started their ministry four years ago. This church is connected with The Owl in many ways but the main way that they are connected with the goals of The Owl is through the school that it runs. This school has become the focal point of the community in many ways. Almost all of the kids in town attend this school because their parents want them to get the best education available. Through that, many have become interested in what the church has to say about other things. The church in El Carmen plans to form a relationship with the University of Monterrey so that they can raise up their own teachers, in town, to eventually staff the new school in Mission.

For a great look at The Owl from a non-Christian perspective. Check this video out. It was made by some climbers passing through town who happened into the coffee shop. It's a 15 minute long video but if you want to skip to the part about The Owl, it's at 9:38.
http://vimeo.com/48468088