Hello!
Thank you’s
We would like to thank Jesus for all the technological work and training over a large variety of areas that he is doing for God’s Way and gifting to myself and others.
The amount of research and comparing products, function, economy, prices, performance etc of all kinds of technology options for God’s Way data storage is amazing. And not only did Jesus do the research he also educated others, shared and compared everything he had learned with so that the best informed choice about things could be made.Mary wrote up a great post which can be found at the following link:
We would like to thank those of you who have donated to God’s Way over the past months. Your donations weather one offs or regular donations are most appreciated. Aside from Members fees, Gifts and Donations are the only sources of income God’s Way receives. God’s Way relies on people’s desire to donate in order to run and serve it’s objectives.
God’s Way update:
Divine Truth & God’s Way Operations
Divine Truth operations were overdue for an overhaul and redesign of our data storage systems. As our core work and passion is to create and deliver Divine Truth materials to the world it is essential that everything we create is stored and backed-up very safely and efficiently (otherwise we risk loosing valuable recordings, documents, templates, plans, books etc). This requires Divine Truth to own and manage a lot of computer hardware. We cannot easily use Cloud based operations, since we have very poor internet bandwidth, speed and capacity in the Australian bush. Most of our computer systems are 5-7 years old, and our server systems are very slow, and at full capacity.
So, we have been overdue for not only an upgrade to our system to enable more reliable and less time consuming storage and back-up processes but we also needed to review the file management structure we have been using to organise the data we have stored and continue to create. Since God’s Way also must set up new data storage and file structures, we have decided to perform our upgrades with God’s Way in mind. This will allow Divine Truth and God’s Way to share the same infrastructure and training systems, and we hope will result in quite a number of people having a large degree of technical expertise.
We currently have around 480TB of raw video and audio data in cold storage, and 48TB of editing video and audio, along with another 16TB of general data storage, along with 3 iMac based video editing stations, 4 small linux servers, 4 windows PC’s and 3 Linux systems. All of these machines are connected to a 1Gbit network, but the video editing stations are connected via a 10Gbit network. Data is stored in many different locations, and managing it is becoming very difficult for Jesus along with managing all of his other work. We immediately need around 120TB of space to allow for Divine Truth video editing, God’s Way video editing, and the storage of data used by both companies, along with a clear upgrade path. Since our data is very important to us, we need to store it all, as well as having methods to backup the data regularly.
Jesus has put off his normal work for sometime in order to research the available hardware and software options that would meet our specialised needs for many years to come. He has had to learn learn about new technological advances (both in hardware and software). This research has taken Jesus huge amounts of time to complete, but he is now up to speed technically on creating large distributed node based clusters of data which have a high level of redundancy and the lowest upgrade cost. We hope in the near future to purchase and maintain our own hardware (4 x large servers able to upgrade to 240TB of data each, using 10Gbit connections to our network, used in a cluster which allows 2 servers to be used in rotation for a backup, and 2 servers live at all times, with each server having a copy of the data), and use open source software to maintain the clusters (GlusterFS on Centos). The proposed system will be able to grow to 240TB by adding disks, and further growth will occur by adding 3 new servers each time once God’s Way has a location of its own connected to our location by fibre (which we hope to set up in the next few years).
Cold storage backups will be produced by 2 x Linux servers with 16 drive bays backing up to large drives for individual project archival and storage. We always create two copies of all archives before we remove projects from our main editing store. These upgrades will allow for hi-speed video and audio editing at speeds that are a minimum of 4 x our current speeds, the ability to have a number of concurrent video editors working at the same time, along with reliable backups onto cold storage for years to come. This work in expanding our storage system and redesigning our file naming conventions and storage procedures is essential for our future expansion and later database creation. Obviously this amount of data needs good organisation for many reasons. The upheaval and reorganisation of our current physical system will occur after we have re-organized and categorised the data, along with producing a database which describes all of the data in detail.
In addition, we already have a team of around 80 volunteers who need to be able to communicate with each other better, and find documentation for their processes. So we are setting up a cloud based infrastructure for internal forums, wikis, and blogs to be used to keep all volunteers worldiwde up to date. God’s Way will eventually have many projects underway, all of which will also need forums, wikis and blogs.
Of course, this requires a lot of work to setup, and again, Jesus is the only person with the appropriate expertise to make these decisions and choices, as well as setup the resulting infrastructure which will be used both by Divine Truth and God’s Way. At this stage we are testing Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2 in a load balanced solution connected to a scalable AWS RDS, running a Linux, Apache, MariaDB, and PHP software stack (LAMP) with an open source product alled Tiki Wiki running on top. Data will be backed up to AWS S3, and to our other servers in Canada and the USA.
As you can imagine, this infrastructure needs a substantial financial and time based outlay. We have been putting off making the changes we have had to make for sometime as technology usually becomes more reliable and more affordable over time, and because Jesus wanted to focus on producing information for the Assistance Groups. But we decided that we can’t put the process off any longer and so Jesus has taken the plunge to investigate extremely thoroughly before we make our purchases. At this stage we have some people who want to help financially which is great.
Obviously we need technical assistance, but unfortunately, since a major part of our system has to be local, all of this assistance needs to come from people who live locally so that proper structures and directions can be given to them. Since there a no people locally with these skills, Jesus has begun a training program with people who do live locally, and who are dedicated to living “God’s Way”, who volunteer a lot of their time to us already. Eventually, when we have the funds donated to do so, we would like to pay these people for their services. At the moment this is not possible due to the amount of donations we receive, but Jesus is still going ahead and training the people required.
New Online Delivery Services for Divine Truth & God’s Way
As I have mentioned, as a part of our technological overhaul, and in light of the changes we want to make for Divine Truth and God’s Way, Jesus has been concurrently investigating content management systems. He has been creating LAMP stacks that will allow us to run a variety of content management systems to test. Our goal is to create and maintain Cloud based communication mechanisms, backing up data to our local systems. Due to the amount of data in our Video systems, this is not possible for our video systems without spending millions of dollars. But it is possible for us to use these kinds of systems for our internal documentation, process, and forum insfrastructure.
Our requirements include:
- Private Forums for our volunteer teams to use to create and store in house procedures, keep up to date with work on ongoing projects (e.g. transcription team) and communicate within and between volunteer teams
- Wiki Pages (private pages for Volunteer team members) – for sharing of Divine procedures, creating working documents
- Wiki Pages (for public) – to share data collected by Divine Truth and God’s Way teams in a variety of fields e.g. relationships, education, construction, land regeneration, engineering, computer systems, etc
- Website and blog redesign
New Document Templates for God’s Way & Update of Divine Truth Templates
Jesus has also donated his time to God’s Way to create all of the new office templates for God’s Way company and project research documents. While he was at it he updated all of our Divine Truth office templates as well. He has updated over 100 templates in total. He makes these things look easy but they take a lot of time.
God’s Way Mentor-ship & Directorship
Jesus and I have both been involved in assisting the God’s Way company to get up and running and to focus on their core business as outlined by their constitution.
Jesus has spent considerable time in educating and donating time to Directors, members, and guests of the organisation, in the following areas:
- Creation of a company constitution suiting the requirements for a non-profit organisation in Australia
- Creation and setup of a company
- Legal aspects of running a company, including how to deal with property ownership
- Designing Accounting systems & correct accounting procedures
- Setup of the software and chart of accounts for God’s Way
- Consulting with accountants and leading meetings with God’s Way accountants to ensure they established best and legal practices for receiving gifts and donations
- How to create and protect valuable Intellectual Property
- Technical considerations for the creation of Intellectual Property
- Education and assistance to Directors with decision making for the purchase of hardware and software pertaining to data collection & storage
- Technical assistance and education to set up company email accounts, blogs and management of internet services
After Peter Lytton-Hitchins removal as Director of the company, {Mary} stepped in and became a Director to assist with day to day decision making and weighing up ethical considerations and actions in harmony with the company constitution and objectives of God’s Way. We hope Peter will return as Director after he addresses aspects of love that Jesus has identified for him.
As can be read in the quoted text from Mary’s blog above, God’s Way and those involved have been receiving so much help from Jesus and Mary technically, through training, personal feedback and other areas. Their time has been mostly used for helping out God’s Way which has brought up a number of issues which the directors and those involved in God’s Way need to emotionally deal with if they want to run a sustainable business that is led by a team of people rather than relying on one.
Changes to the God’s Way Constitution
Changes have been made to the God’s Way constitution and have been filed with ASIC. A link with the modifications can be found here. Again Jesus spent many hours adjusting and creating these changes. The directors had the opportunity to receive training on Constitution clause writing.
Projects Updates:
Education Project for Adults and Children
We had a review at the beginning of the year in regards to the Education Experiment. This came after Jesus and Mary pointed out some truths we were skipping over and addictions Pete, Tris and I were engaging in.
The negative impact of not dealing with these issues included the project suffering due us being unwilling to challenge each other emotionally, wanting to be addictive and not challenging the parents or the children enough in the lessons. We are still working on these issues currently.
The areas that have improved are that more documentation is happening, more consistently, in fact this improved so greatly once the issue had been raised that we wish we had done so earlier.
Tris received some great ideas from Jesus and has revised the Education Project substantially. It is quite different to the presentation Tris and Eloisa gave in January, so we have decided to not put up the presentation but instead share about the new way it is going to be.
Tris has created an Education Plan for both an online programme and a potential school. We are currently focusing on the online programme and may or may not engage the example school. There could be others who are really excited about the school in the future who will take over that idea and create it.
We feel that an online programme for Adults and Children is the best way to share with the most people and feel that our time is best spent in setting this up.
Tris and Anna have some exciting ideas and as they design, create and share them you will find out more. you can see more of what they are up to on their blog
A Brief overview of the New Ideas for the Education Project:
The Student Education Plan consists of the following areas (this is not exhaustive and is subject to changes and modifications, currently it looks as follows):
Foundation Level
This is basically Love 101. Foundation is a whole heap of units educating people about God’s Love and Love in general. Introducing God’s Loving Laws and the benefits of living in harmony with them. It focuses on all the aspects of Love.
It focuses on how to use the gift of our Will, how to interact with others, encourages growth in all students. Educates how to work through emotional blocks to new information including current emotional issues that limit them and how to break these limitations and how to recognise and positively engage emotionally charged situations. Students will be encouraged to become responsible for their own emotions, attitudes and behaviour in life.
In the current schooling system Foundation would be the first year of school so targeting 5 year olds, but is designed in such a way that it is able to be modified for any age level. This is literally the foundation of the education course and every person involved will need to go through this course, no matter their age, before moving on to…
Enthusiasm Level
This is the second area Students will learn about, in the school current system it will be for ages 6-7, but again will be modified to suit all year levels, including adults and will need to be engaged before moving forward.
Enthusiasm focuses on How to recognise soul passions; how to use desire powerfully, become responsible for their own learning; research and creations. Enthusiasm educates students on the benefits of serving others in your passions, moving past current emotional limits of understanding, how clear purpose, benefits self and others.
Independence Level
Is the third area students will engage. This area in a school situation would target ages 8-9, but will be beneficial and adjustable to all age groups.
Independence includes learning how to complete tasks for self responsibility, including running a household, looking after personal needs and needs of others (in a loving manner); practical skills such as banking, vehicles; what is involved and needed to set up companies and various other information. How to honour personal legal responsibilities in life.
Independence involves learning about God’s Laws and how these work and how to live in harmony with them. Independence educates students to be fully independent in a loving and self responsible manner both physically, emotionally & spiritually.
Occupation Level
Is aimed at students who are approximately around the ages of 10-13.
This area encourages students to become responsible for their own businesses and income. Students will be encouraged to be ethical and moral in all their dealings and interactions.
Occupation educates students on how to turn their interests and passions into businesses; how to create and run their own businesses and companies; how to create intellectual property to share freely with the world. How to document the process of every creation, the processes, procedures, mistakes and solutions, along with many other skills.
We feel excited about this project and the small experiment we are currently conducting with one family is showing some positive results for the students.
In images above kids and Tris engage in activities, Pete has joined the school to learn about love too.
Tubs Project
Experiment 1
Pete and Eloisa have been learning how to conduct consistent, thorougher, scientific research, we still have much to learn, but by setting up and engaging an experiment it has taught us a lot of things.
This project was suggested by Jesus to a group of people in order to find out how to create a waterless garden system that can be set up easily, self waters (meaning it has a wicking system – see image below that enables water to be put in the bottom of a tub and last for weeks or months so it does not require constant watering).
We found out many things including, but not limited to: how to set up an experiment, about how different soils act, about growth of plants and how living soils (soils that have life – micorbes, insects, soil creatures and are made of decomposed matter grow things in an exceptional manner and out perform potting mix)
We have video and documentation to share on this project that will be put up when editing is done and completed.
Others have also begun some Tub experiments to gather data. As others research and findings come available we hope to share them here too.
Image of basic wicking system. Thanks to http://www.Carazy.net for use of this image
Tubs Experiment 2
Our next experiment is creating soil from human waste (poo, wee, household greenwaste) with the help of worms and possibly dung beetles.
We also want to measure the effects of prayer on soil and plant growth.
Trenches Experiment
Another great idea that Jesus had was to create swales along the contours of the land and trenches, or pits which are filled with matter and water at strategic points on a property.
The purpose of these large trenches is to act as huge soaks allowing water to seep down through the soil of the property to keep the property hydrated and the matter that is put into the trenches, to slowly decompose and all the nutrients to be transported down through the soil to the rest of the property also, or to a good portion of area surrounding the trench.
Jesus decided to do some on the property he and Mary live on and Pete and Eloisa got so excited about it that we have put a couple on our place too.
Future post to come: Detailed information on the theory behind the trenches, how they work, the benefits and photographs of the process. Link will be provided when it is shared.
Design projects
We are look at various designs and ideas for buildings, including a potential renovation for guest accommodation. Ideas and designing experiments for building with Earth bricks and other mediums; and everything involved to do this
Induction Programme
Is being designed with mentor-ship from Jesus and Mary.
Learning Centre Shed
Was dismantled and remove. There were lessons to learn for those involved about putting up with unloving behaviour due to fears, working as a team and being clear and precise. An important lesson was to always uphold Love & God’s Truth and deal with any issues of love immediately.
Observations
As you can read there is A LOT of involvement from Jesus and Mary and to be honest the ideas, creation and enthusiasm for God’s Way projects currently originates with Jesus in most situations.
We can see that due to some personal fears and emotional resistances we are often leaving many things up to one person – Jesus and that is going to be problematic and unsustainable if we do not make some soul shifts and changes.
Jess and Mary are always growing and at some point will have so many other things to do and share with the world and at that time a team of people will be needed who are educated, passionate, desirous, self motivated, independent, dedicated to service & sharing God’s Truth with the world; and who are able to run the day to day operations as well as design, create and execute projects. Currently that is our aspiration to be the team described above.
For God’s Way to flourish those currently involved have some things to work on, and we look forward to attracting an enthusiastic, motivated team with a heartfelt desire to serve and meet the Objectives of the company.
All the best to each of you who read this blog,
Love
Eloisa
On behalf of the God’s Way Team