Most of Jordan is under 25. Half the country is younger than that. And in a nation of 11 million, the number of true believers is measured in the low thousands. Rakan Milkonian knows what it feels like to be overlooked as a teenager. Bullied. Left out. Now 28, newly married, and part of the SmallCircle Team in Zarqa, he sits with teens one-on-one behind closed doors and does the slow, unglamorous work of listening and disciple-making. Not running programs. Building actual relationships in a culture where everything else feels like another program—school, Instagram, family expectations, even religion. He talks about “hidden persecution”: the quiet pressure that young believers in Jordan deal with every day. You’ll hear about Nidal, who just needed someone to listen, and five years later is leading Bible studies and serving shoulder-to-shoulder with Rakan. Rakan shares about the teens who have been baptized and how they are discipling in slow motion preparing the next generation of leaders in the faith. You'll learn about Jordan's missing generation of men in the church (almost no leaders between 38 and 55) due to a lack of discipleship and the deliberate work of raising the next ones so that gap never happens again. This isn’t a success story with tidy numbers. It’s real people in a hard place choosing presence over performance, one conversation at a time. Here Rakan helps us to understand the deeper work, where “Discipleship is a relationship, not a program.” 

Episode transcript: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534947/19599262-the-hidden-challenges-of-jordan-s-youth-rakan/transcript

Egypt Summit Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZvjeb6p6iI/

Ep. 10

From the streets of Saint-Lô, Normandy — the “Capital of Ruins” after WWII — comes an extraordinary story of obedience, sacrifice, and God’s unexpected plans. In this on-the-go episode of the SmallCircle Podcast. recorded just minutes before catching a train, Steve and Carrie McCoy sit down with Pastor Mauricio Prunera in a car outside the Saint-Lô train station. Mauricio, originally from El Salvador, shares how he left a thriving youth ministry to follow his French wife sweetheart, Rachel back to her hometown in Normandy. What started as a painful transition filled with cultural shock, language barriers, and loss soon turned into a powerful calling. Through visits to the D-Day beaches, his mother-in-law’s extraordinary 13-year faith, and the moving moment he first led someone to Christ in French, Mauricio realized God had brought him to “liberate Normandy again” — this time with the Gospel.

Today, he pastors Chemin Nouveau (“New Way”), the only evangelical church in a city of 80,000. Pastor Mauricio and his church family welcomed SmallCircle to visit Saint Lô to experience a personalized training in SmallCircle tools. Twenty people responded enthusiastically, marking an exciting new chapter as they begin multiplying an intentional one-to-one discipleship in Normandy.

This episode is a beautiful reminder that God’s purposes often unfold through our hardest “yeses,” and that true love for family and obedience to God’s call can birth something greater than we ever imagined. A story full of God’s grace, resilience, and the power of simple faithfulness. Pray for the church in France and the work of liberating Normandy with the Gospel. 

Click the link below to view our Instagram reel on our trip to Saint Lô, France:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZF6gtao-ak/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Ep. 9

Listen to a real-talk sit-down conversation between Carrie McCoy and Pastor Marty Ertel — a genuine Ohio pastor, disc golf course builder, and passionate disciple-maker. Marty shares how he’s blending his love for the sport with intentional one-on-one discipleship using SmallCircle tools. Marty opens up about his journey with SmallCircle, how the Xchange process helped him move from good intentions to generational multiplication. From meeting people through lost discs and sharing the gospel on the course, to building a multiplying disciple-making culture in his church. This episode is full of practical encouragement, real-life stories, and fresh vision for everyday believers and pastors who want to get in the game. If you’ve ever wondered how to move from casual coffee conversations to confident, reproducible disciple-making, pull up a chair.

Ep. 8

Listen to this conversation of generational multiplication and the result of the slow motion pacing process of a Table for Two. What happens when discipleship doesn’t end at “graduation,” but creates a chain reaction that turns into a steady movement that keeps rippling forward? 

Carrie and Emily recently wrapped up their Xchange journey. Emily shares what it's like to step into her new role for the first time with her friend Taylor, navigating the shift from disciple to disciple-maker role. 

From the nervous energy of that very first session to the practical realities of labs, schedules, and building a real friendship that outlasts the "material," this conversation stays grounded in everyday details. You’ll hear how they paired up with each other, what surprised Emily about switching seats, and why some things felt uneasy at first but then a breeze in the end.

If you’ve ever wondered what it actually looks like to step from the role of disciple into the next stage of disciple-maker—without the polished version—this one’s worth your time.

Ep. 7

Join Steve and Carrie McCoy for a fun, honest, and unscripted “his and her” conversation as they share the latest stories from their whirlwind discipleship training trip across Europe.

From London to Lisbon, Berlin to Paris, hear about powerful disciple-making moments: training hungry leaders in Portugal, nine hours with pastors and missionaries from 12 different countries in Berlin, and sharing discipleship with a church plant in Paris. 

You’ll laugh at their travel adventures dragging 50-pound suitcases, taking 8 flights in 3 weeks, and hunting for sandwiches for 25 new friends. Be encouraged by the hunger they’re seeing across Europe, and get a real behind-the-scenes look at what God is doing through ordinary people and simple tools.

This episode is full of real stories, real relationships, and real table for two conversations — exactly what SmallCircle is all about.

Ep. 6

Enjoy this heartfelt conversation with professional disc golfer Evan Smith at the Eagles Wings Unchained Conference in Starke, Florida (January, 2026). Evan shares how disc golf became more than a competitive sport—it created natural space for deep friendships and authentic community while traveling the Pro Tour. He opens up about using the SmallCircle Xchange tool in a one-on-one relationship with his mentor Shane, which helped move conversations from surface-level topics to meaningful discussions about faith, theology, Scripture, and personal growth. 

SmallCircle Tools provided structure and opened up the space to ask hard questions. Evan shares how blending competitive disc golf with disciple-making can turn long walks on the course and practice rounds into something so much more!

This episode highlights the power of intentional one-to-one disciple making, the beauty of building transparent, deeper, Christ-centered relationships on and off the course. Perfect for anyone interested in sports ministry, ways to incorporate disciple-making tools, or how God turns everyday activities into disciple-making journeys.

Eagles Wings Disc Golf is a Christian ministry and division of Push the Rock that integrates faith with the sport of disc golf.

Instagram @eagleswingsdiscgolf

https://pushtherock.org/ Push the Rock : where sports is their language and Jesus is their message.

Paul McBeth Foundation -  changing lives and transforming communities by making disc golf more accessible around the world.

The Paul McBeth Foundation (PMF) Paulmcbethfoundation.org

Ep. 5