COICOM 2016

The COICOM Board -- Where's Glen?

Some reading this post have heard of COICOM so many times over the years that you could write a description of the ministry, but for those reading of it for the first time (or as a refresher!), COICOM is a Latin American organization that puts on an annual training event for pastors, leaders and media professionals.  Each year the event moves to a new country, and this year the conference took place in Calacoaya, near Mexico City.  I have served on the board of COICOM since its inception in 1992.  The first event was a gathering of 78 folk working in the media.  The largest event on record was in Paraguay where around 7,000 people attended a few years ago.  COICOM 2016 brought together around 2,200 from 24 different countries.

Shelly and I both planned to attend, but her accident a day before we were to have left kept her at home and delayed my departure.  (More on her accident in the Our Health post.) When I was convinced that Shelly would be okay alone, I traveled in time to give my seminar and participate in the board meetings that always follow the event.

This year Valley Church of Cupertino, CA sponsored 150 pastors at the event, and I produced a video report for the church that gives a good overview of what happened COICOM 2016.

COICOM 1992 --Where is Glen?

The post-event board meetings were tough. We had to come to terms with the fact that the way we are putting on these events is not financially sustainable, and the fact that while still unique in it's content, COICOM is no longer the only large training event for Latin Americans.  Next year is COICOM's 25th anniversary.  We'll hold a celebration in the city where it all started, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and we'll look forward to a future much different than the years we celebrate.