We dream of an army of evangelizers

Next year it will be ten years since we started sharing the gospel in Poland with a tool called THE FOUR. The idea of this project is not new. It's a simplified message of the “Four Spiritual Laws,” known for many years. Young people consume content differently than in the past, and it's harder for them to concentrate on reading longer texts, so The Four meets the needs of the younger generation. The quick and simple message of the Good News, using just four signs, is a hit.

45.000 bracelets

Since its beginning in Poland, THE FOUR project has managed to distribute more than 45.000 bracelets one can use to share the gospel.

“I like this tool because it's easy to convey quite complex truths to another person," says Marek Kowalski, one of the first volunteers of the project. “If you have more time you can talk for several hours, and if you have a short conversation, a minute is enough.”

“I remember once on an airplane, the man sitting next to me asked about the bracelet," recalls Kowalski. “He was from Pakistan and a Muslim. That was the first time he heard about salvation in Jesus. The bracelet was a good conversation starter. Then I took out the Bible and showed him various passages about Jesus. At the end he said it was all interesting and thanked me for telling him about it. It was also cool to know that the people sitting next to us were listening in on the conversation in a way that I wouldn’t notice," he concludes.

It's a long story

The heart, the division sign, the cross, and the question mark didn't just come out of thin air, there's a long history behind them and the original idea of Bill Bright - founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU). He had a dream that anyone could easily share the Gospel with the people God put in their path. In 1952, an easy-to-use message was created.

The “Four Spiritual Laws” were written to help evangelize, and have been used for years in the Mt28 Movement. In the age of fast-paced information, it is difficult to keep the listener's attention for 20 minutes of reading the booklet. Hence the idea of four signs that convey the same truths: God loves you, you are sinful, Jesus is the solution, what is your decision?

The momentum at WYD

The idea to create THE FOUR as a continuation of the “Four Spiritual Laws” came from Switzerland. It was brought to Poland by Marek Marcinowicz in 2016.

“We first used this method during World Youth Day in Krakow," says Marek. “We painted symbols on the street, handed out wristbands, trained evangelizers and told them how to share the gospel in a simple way. To this day I remember the enthusiasm of several hundred people at WYD, when they learned about this tool.”

“World Youth Day 2016 gave this project a good start," says Kasia Michalowska, a volunteer with The Four Project for nine years.

Development of the idea

From the beginning, Marek Marcinowicz, Marek Kowalski, Kasia Michalowska and Magda Jastrzebska (nee Chrzanowiecka) were involved in the project, and after a few years Natalia Balcer joined.

“When we started THE FOUR team, I was excited," recalls Marek Kowalski. “I thought that we would be able to equip thousands of Christians in Poland with a simple yet interesting tool for preaching the gospel. I thought about how many people would be able to hear about Jesus thanks to it. I liked it very much and that is why I decided to get into this project and promote it. On the other hand, I didn't know what to expect. To what extent would it be accepted, would people pick up on it? But it didn't take long to find out that in many places this tool was well received. It was clear that people needed something like this," concludes Marek.

“The beginnings and the work were exciting and creative,” recalls Magda, a Mt28 intern involved in THE FOUR project. “I have particularly fond memories of project meetings, establishing relationships with various communities and brand ambassadors (Michal PAX Bukowski, Dobromir Makowski or POISON) as well as trips to conferences (WYD in Krakow, Początek in Wroclaw, Exodus in Gdansk).”

“Before each conference I was faced with counting the gadgets, T-shirts and brochures, to make sure everything matched up with the Mt28 accounting," Magda recalls. “Counting, and then packing into cartons and gluing for several hours. I didn't like it, but I was excited that we were going somewhere again and that there would be an opportunity not only to promote the project, but most importantly to experience the passion of proclaiming God's Word," she says. “This visual tool can be easily taught to others. That's the best thing about it," she concludes.

What's next?

THE FOUR is a well-liked tool in evangelism, growing and reaching not only youth groups in churches, but also adults.

“My desire is to reach 2 million evangelizers, using social media and producing good quality gadgets at affordable prices," dreams Kasia.

Recently, THE FOUR  opened a new store with its products to reach out more widely and efficiently.

“We want to organize more trainings in churches and communities to show even more clearly that everyone needs Jesus and it is possible to talk about Him in a simple way, without fear that the words will get stuck in our throat or we won't know what to say,” says Kasia.

“My dream is for THE FOUR to be known and loved, for people to know that this is one of the best ways of telling people about God," says Marek Marcinowicz. “For it to be known in different environments and used to preach the gospel. I dream of a mobilized army of evangelizers.”

More about The Four:

Polish store of  The Four - https://sklep.mt28.pl/the-four/

The Four website - https://int.thefour.com/pl/

FB The Four - https://www.facebook.com/thefourpoland

Instagram The Four - https://www.instagram.com/the4_poland

YouTube The Four - https://www.youtube.com/@thefourpoland1967

Mt28 Movement is a Polish organization affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ