This post is an overview of the work undertaken by God’s Way Ltd, during the work period December 9th – 20th, 2019.

Director Activities

The founding members of the organisation are AJ Miller (Jesus) and Mary Luck (Mary Magdalene).

Jesus designs, oversees and directs all Programmes and Projects that God’s Way Ltd undertakes. He is the driving force in the organisation.

As quoted from the God’s Way Ltd 2019 Annual Report:

God’s Way Ltd continues to benefit from the strong leadership of founding member, Jesus. Over the past year Jesus has continued to create the organisation’s projects and assisted the board to develop planning and leadership skills and to manage volunteers. His firm commitment to the vision of God’s Way Ltd is an immeasurable asset to the company.

Jesus is constantly anticipating the future resource and development needs of each project, directing workers and site managers, as well as spending significant time in the field working alongside teams and improving their work flow. God’s Way Ltd would not yet be able to operate independent of his input and ideas.

Jesus also acts as system administrator of the shared God’s Way Ltd and Divine Truth Pty Ltd computer and data storage network. Additionally he shares his extensive expertise in data management, computer programming and information sharing and continues to train directors and key volunteers in these skills, leading in the creation and implementation of systems which will enable God’s Way Ltd to share valuable data now, and on a wider scale in future. Jesus’ personal example of living God’s Way and his mentorship of members and volunteers in the organisation is invaluable.

Jesus & Mary both regularly gift their time to share God’s Truth and provide feedback to members & volunteers within the organisation in order to provide the entire team with opportunities to bring their lives into harmony God’s Way. Jesus, Mary and the Divine Truth organisation generously donate time, expertise, finances and resources to God’s Way Ltd, we are grateful for their gifts and donations.

Source: God’s Way Ltd 2019 Annual Report, p. 3, 4 & 5.

As the Managing Director, Mary oversees that Programmes and Projects are executed in line with the Organisation’s Constitution and Fundamentals of God’s Way. She and Jesus plan the activities for each work week, give instructions and feedback to members and volunteers, review and improve methods of performing tasks, among many other things.

Director Eloisa Lytton-Hitchins supervises the day-to-day activities of project teams and provides direction and feedback to volunteers. She receives instructions from Jesus and Mary and keeps them updated on progress during and at the completion of the day. Eloisa also reports on the attitude of volunteers towards the work they are undertaking. At this time she is also the organisation’s principle photographer, and documents project progress through photographs as she visits each project site.

Eloisa also participates practically in construction, earth works and site preparation for environment projects. She worked hard on the terrace project during 2019, and continues to supervise and complete levelling work during dozer and excavator work, routinely spending 12 hour days on the sites.

Director Catherine Spence also provides project supervision, as well as ensuring that safety and first aid equipment is maintained and safety standards upheld across all project locations.

Catherine is the owner of the heavy machinery (bulldozer & excavator). She generously gifts God’s Way organisation the use of the machinery (and funds any repairs to the machinery) in order that it can be used to implement the environmental projects.

Heavy Machinery Maintenance

The bulldozer and excavator required repairs during the first work week of the work period. The dozer has been doing a lot of work hours recently, resulting in the need for repairs.

Directors supervised mechanics performing the repairs and serviced both the dozer and the excavator at the completion of the work period.

Dam Earthworks

The dam at the Cushnie Function Centre Caretaker’s Residence is being deepened and enlarged, with the dozer and excavator both being used on the job.

Heavy machinery unexpectedly hit water during these works, which God’s Way Ltd directors believe to be the water table. Work on the dam was halted in order to consider and decide how to proceed.

Removal of Fences

To improve accessibility and prepare the Cushnie Function Centre Caretaker’s Residence for future projects, wire fences are being removed from around the house dam.

At this time of year, when the days quickly become very hot, outdoor work commences at 6am and ceases by mid-morning. During Summer, volunteers split their days with outdoor work in the mornings and inside work, for example office-based computer work during the afternoons.

Safety Equipment Maintenance

The directors organised the examination and installation of new fire extinguishers in the buildings and vehicles used by God’s Way Ltd.

To ensure each extinguisher is in full working condition, it is necessary to check and replace units based on expiry date, rather than just the pressure gauge indicating that the unit remains charged.

Cushnie Function Centre Caretaker’s Residence Renovation

Volunteers (Eloisa Lytton-Hitchins and David Walsh (Corny)) have continued experiments with polyurethane flooring finishes for the Cushine Function Centre Caretaker’s Residence Renovation. The flooring thought best for the house is normally used on cement floors, so experimentation is required to test if this product will suit the wooden floors of the Caretaker’s Residence. One of the aims of the flooring finish experiment is to find and standardize on a flooring finish that can be used across all renovations and any new builds God’s Way Ltd creates in the future.

Corny strengthened the floor of the house via a process called back blocking. This involves cutting wooden boards to size and fitting them between the floor joists by gluing, then screwing the wooden boards to the underside of the floor.

Inside, the bathroom and laundry have been plastered.

Floors throughout the house are being sanded to remove glue and waterproofing membrane left after removal of previous floor coverings.

Terraces Project

Seeding of terraces on the Cushnie Function Centre property is an ongoing task undertaken by the team 2 mornings of each week of the working period.

In preparation, Mary manages the ordering of native seed varieties, Jesus plans for mulch deliveries and decides which terraces to seed next. God’s Way Ltd volunteers then cart worm pellets, seed, wheelbarrows, tools and equipment into the terrace ready for the team to start work as soon as they arrive.

24 terraces have now been constructed on the Cushnie Function Centre property, and the terraced area presently spans approximately 11-12 acres. 7 terraces have been seeded using the process detailed in the October 2019 Activity Report. A number of terraces that were seeded in late 2018 are also having more seed varieties and mulch added.

Garden Design Experiment

Supervised by Catherine Spence, contractors & God’s Way Ltd volunteers have continued work on the garden design experiment.

Water has been trucked in to keep the trees in the fertility pits alive during the present drought conditions.

Blogging

Each work period, volunteers who have worked the full work period each write and submit a post for the God’s Way Ltd blog. This post can be on any topic relating to the God’s Way organisation, project activities or principles of God’s Way. The Information Sharing editing team (Kate and Mary) then review the submissions for suitability, edit, format and finally publish them on the site. Volunteers are given feedback on their submissions, to help them develop their writing skills and work through personal issues which affect their ability to produce writing of this style that is relevant, clear and concise.

Information Sharing

This work period Kate Eckersall prepared and published a number of articles for the God’s Way Ltd blog. Under Jesus’ direction Kate continues to research and investigate programming technologies for building software applications that will be used by the organisation and shared publicly. This is a large undertaking which requires a lot of technical skill. Kate and Jesus meet regularly to review and refine the direction of these projects.

Community Green Waste, Rubbish & Recyclables Collection

Each week of the work period, volunteers undertake the Community Green Waste collection of fruit and vegetable waste and cardboard from a local green grocer.

As a kerbside rubbish collection service is not provided by the council in this region, volunteers also collect rubbish and recyclables from God’s Way Ltd volunteer residences. Rubbish is taken to a nearby council depot and recycling is sorted and stored in large bins at the Hostel (on a property owned by two directors), and is periodically taken to a recycling plant in the region.

Cleaning

God’s Way Ltd Offices and Hostel were cleaned this work period by the Cleaning and Maintenance Team.

Shared Meal

At the end of the work period, members, volunteers and guests shared a meal at the God’s Way Hostel.