In this powerful second half of our conversation from the 2025 Senegal SmallCircle Summit, we sit down with Middle East Director Yazan Melkonian and Egypt Director Pastor Khalaf Barakat to explore the transformative impact of one-to-one discipleship in the Arab world. Yazan shares how the SmallCircle tools rekindled Khalaf’s passion for personal discipleship—something he experienced decades ago but found missing in many Egyptian churches despite strong large-group ministries and small groups. With a fresh vision, Pastor Khalaf quickly began implementing SmallCircle training, starting in his own church before expanding to seminary students and other denominations. Yazan and Khalaf paint a mutual vision of bringing SmallCircle discipleship to every church in Egypt—not limited to one denomination—and then extending that momentum across North Africa, while Jordan continues to strengthen its regional partnerships and eyes opportunities in Iraq and Lebanon.

This episode highlights the strategic importance of Egypt as a gateway for gospel influence throughout the Middle East and North Africa, where what Egypt adopts often sets the tone for the broader Arab world.

Don’t miss this update on what God is doing in Egypt and the bold dream to see SmallCircle active in every country across the region.

Ep. 3

In this special two-part episode, Steve and Carrie McCoy sit down in Dakar, Senegal, during the 2025 SmallCircle Summit with two key leaders from the Arabic world: Yazan Melkonian, SmallCircle’s regional director in the Middle East and elder at Grace Baptist Church in Jordan, and Pastor Khalif Barakat, head of the Baptist Convention of Egypt and pastor of the Baptist Church of Alexandria. 

With Yazan translating, the conversation dives deep into the current state of discipleship across Egypt and the broader Middle East, sharing firsthand stories of how God is moving in predominantly Muslim and persecuted regions. 

Yazan and Pastor Khalif explore the rich history of one-to-one disciple-making in Egypt during the 1980s and ’90s, why that vibrant movement faded, and the factors—like social media, small-group models, and the confusion between counseling and true discipleship—that shifted church priorities away from personal, agenda-driven spiritual growth. 

Pastor Khalif and Yazan explain the cultural and biblical distinctions between one-to-one discipleship and other ministries, highlighting how SmallCircle tools have sparked renewed vision, healthier churches, and remarkable fruit, including dozens of baptisms directly tied to intentional, personal disciple-making. 

Recorded live after two intense days of the summit, this unscripted conversation offers powerful insight into what’s happening right now in the Arabic churches and why returning to one-to-one discipleship is essential for the future. 

Part one of this inspiring discussion sets the stage—don’t miss part two for even more stories of transformation and kingdom impact.

Ep. 2

In this special first episode of the SmallCircle Podcast, Carrie McCoy sits down with her husband and founder of SmallCircle Steve McCoy for a personal, heartfelt conversation about how SmallCircle began.

Steve shares the powerful story that started it all — back in 1982 in Boston, as a young man searching for God, when a pastor named Titus tapped him on the shoulder and invited him to “a table for two.” What followed was an extraordinary season of patient, personal discipleship that changed Steve’s life forever and planted the seed for everything SmallCircle is today.

This is the full, unhurried story behind the simple idea of one-to-one disciple-making — why it matters, how it transforms lives, and how one man’s faithful investment eventually rippled across the world.

Whether you’re just discovering SmallCircle or have been on this journey with us for years, this episode will remind you why “a table for two” is so powerful and why we believe it’s for every follower of Jesus.

Pull up a chair. This is where it all began.

Ep. 1

Across 150 countries, something is happening one conversation at a time. Hosted by SmallCircle Director of Global Relations, Carrie McCoy and guest appearances by founder Steve McCoy, the SmallCircle podcast takes you behind the scenes–into the unscripted moments, unexpected connections, and real stories of disciple-makers doing the work in their own communities, in their own languages, in their own corner of the world.