Preparing for the Global Conference

Yes, I have redesinged the blog once again. I am trying to finish up on making myself at home in this website slowly but surely. I have updated the 'Talk' page also (well about 95%) so you can find my contact information on that page if you need it.

This month has been a whirlwind of activity in the office. Along with my standard network and server maintenance duties, I also worked on 100 different requests from staff people during the month of September (at least the ones I documented). We also upgraded all of our computers to the latest Microsoft Office 2007 version this past month, which while it was not very work intensive for me it did take a fair amount of planning.

I am now preparing for the next Campus Outreach conference in Simpsonwood, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta). This is the Global Staff Conference (http://global.campusoutreach.org/) and will be attended by representatives from every Campus Outreach location in the United States and around the world. I will be providing some computer support and will make myself known as the PowerPoint presenter. Yes, I know. You're saying to yourself, "that Jeff sure does get all the glory jobs." And you are right.

Please pray for me and the family. I will leave home on 10/20 and not return until 10/27, so needless to say Shawn will need tremendous prayer support as she runs the household that week. Pray that she will have an enjoyable time and that she and the girls will be safe and will enjoy this time that they have together.

Please pray for my safety as I travel and for me to have a servant heart at the conference. It can sometimes be a little overwhelming as it always seems that the computers tend to give the most trouble when you need them the most... Pray that I will be patient and that I will have wisdom with any problems that may arise (computer or otherwise).

Thank you all for your prayers and continued support of this ministry. We praise God every day that He allows us to serve Him at Campus Outreach and that he uses you to make that happen.

Laboring with you, Jeff

Summer Recap

Things have been going great in the CO world. Campus ministries are starting to come back to life as the new semesters are starting up. The campus staff are starting to get back into the swing of things and are beginning to recruit and evangelize new students at the different colleges and universities that Campus Outreach is on. In the office, the staff are even now beginning to prepare for the next big gathering of students, which is called NYC 2007(New Years Conference 2007) and will be held in Nashville. This will be a little different for us in that we are partnering with a couple of other CO franchises to put this event on. This means that there will be a significant increase in the number of students and staff involved in the meetings. Everything is just now getting planned, but it looks like it is going to be a huge event with lots of student involvement. We are even now beginning to pray for the hearts of the students and the impact it will have in their life.Life in the technology world has been going well. The networking side of life has been going great. Which is good, because I have not had as much time as I want to put into it, but fortunately we have a very stable system thanks to the planning and implementation of the guy before me. I have been spending most of my time giving some hands on attention to the campus staff laptops. Since most of the staff were on Beach Project all summer, they have not had the time to allow me to fix some of their nagging computer problems. In between Beach Project and the beginning of the new school year frees them up to let me work on their computers.Thank you so much for your continued support of this ministry. Shawn and I are extremely thankful for all that you do. We are continually amazed at the grace of God in our lives. What a wondrous calling that he has placed on our lives. We love being in the ministry and providing computer support to ministries. Thank you for all your support that makes all of this possible... Jeff

Summer 2007 Newsletter Post

Welcome to the new and improved Schofield blog site. I have finally incorporated myself into the existing Campus Outreach Technology website. This was setup by the former tech guy (Dan Barber). It has a lot of great information on it for troubleshooting and training. Some of it specifically applies to Campus Outreach staff, but there are several helpful hints that are about general computer issues. I hope to one day complete what he started and fill this with some more helpful information.I have also entered the 21st century and started publishing my newsletter electronically. To see the latest summer edition, please click the following link: Summer 2007 Newsletter. Don't worry, if I have your mailing address you will continue to receive the collectible and more coveted print edition of the newsletter. They will be going out in the mail this weekend.Thank you so much for your involvement in this ministry. It is so great to have you all as partners as we seek to advance the kingdom of God. What a privilege it is to represent you in the Campus Outreach office. Thank you for giving me the means to work here... Jeff

Windows and Daylight Savings Time

Greetings fellow laborer,

You are probably already aware that there have been changes to the start and end times of Daylight Savings in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia (US begins this Sunday morning). Due to the earlier start of daylight savings, your computers will need to be updated with a patch from their respective operating system vendor to know about the changes.
Mac OS
It looks like the newer versions of OS X have the changes in them, but it would be best to verify your version with the information found at the following link: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305056.

Windows OS
The best course of action Microsoft Windows users is to go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and apply all critical/high priority patches listed. This will take care of any necessary security issues as well as the time zone updater. If no updates are available for your computer, then the patch has already been applied and you can sit back and relax (as long as it is not on company time).

Once you have applied the necessary patches that were recommended, you are ready for the new time zone changes. It is important that everyone make these updates to their computers, even if you are in a country that is not affected. Having your computer up to date is always important.

I have already made the necessary updates to our servers and to Exchange, so there should be no surprises come Sunday morning. That being said, please pray there will be no surprises come Sunday morning.

As for any other electronic devices that have clocks, you will need to check with the manufacturer or service provider (cell phone, pda, etc).

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns that you have.

Jeff Schofield
Technology Administrator
Campus Outreach Ministries
(w) 205.776.5530