We are living in exciting, but turbulent times, facing pressures that were unknown to previous generations. However in the midst of that, we as individuals are still required to play positive roles in our families, our businesses, our communities and even within distant communities. This becomes extremely difficult when people are in survival mode, struggling just to make it through the week, let alone making an impact on society. The likelihood of individuals making a success of their lives without the support and encouragement of significant others in their lives are sadly very limited. The bottom line is that we need each other. We are now moving into a relational economy, where even in the workplace there is recognition of the need for and value of relationships.

We believe that our mandate as members of a global society, to build meaningful lives, so as to be able to make a difference in our families, work places and communities has not changed. It has become more difficult, but without us striving to take up our rightful places in society, we cannot know true meaning and fulfillment. We all have an innermost desire to leave some kind of positive imprint on the world, to leave a legacy that lives on long after we are no longer here. How to get there is most often the question.

This background and context is what pushed us urgently towards some way in which we could do just that; Make our own lives count, while at the same time create a simple framework within with others can do the same. We are passionate about helping people take up their rightful places in society. We are passionate about relationships. We are passionate about making a difference in the world. A world is changed one person at a time.

The Concept of the Coffee Shop Generation was born one evening when a group of us, philosophizing over a meal of baby chickens, stumbled over an idea that we believe can impact far and wide. The excitement birthed inside us has not subsided, but intensified. We are making history. It feels good.

We are not an organization, we are a movement. We are an army of ordinary people out to find our place in the world in meaningful, practical ways. What will tomorrow look like? We are not sure. Can we shape it? We believe that as others join with us we can. It is our desire to create a groundswell of values driven, relationship based people, committed to being mobilized into action to make a positive contribution to our world. If you feel stirred as you read this then jump in and join us. Idealism is not dead, the dream is alive. Come and live the dream with us.

• The friends of CSG are a group of people who are members of Harvest Christian Church in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
  
  

• The CSG Project is founded on Christian Biblical principles.