Join us as we delve into Jeanette Gabay’s inspiring story of perseverance and faith. Despite cultural and political challenges, Jeanette has managed to create a profound impact on both local and international communities. Through her work in tourism and advocacy, Jeanette transforms visitors into ambassadors for Israel while touching the lives of many with her dedication to bringing biblical roots to life. Her story is a testament to the power of steadfast belief and dedication to one’s calling.
00:23:17 Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Calling
00:24:27 Jeanette’s Wisdom and Contact Information
CHRYSANDRA :
Welcome, everyone, to The Calling’s radio show to all the dreamers. I’m your radio host, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, founder and CEO of The Calling, and it is such an honor to be with all of you today. You know, at The Calling, we have realized that So many people are afraid to go after the dreams that Jesus has placed inside each of our hearts because they are afraid to fail. And that is just plain wrong because if God has given us a dream and we’re not living it out, we are wasting it and we do not want to die with regret. That’s why at The Calling, we love to inspire, empower, and equip people to, after God’s calling on their lives, treat the best kind of eternal legacy possible to have immediate impact on ourselves and our families. We love to do this through so many different avenues, through custom tools and programs, workshops, seminars. but especially through this radio show where we bring on world-renowned guests to share how they’re going after their God-given dreams and how we can do the same. You guys, we are in for such a treat from one of my most favorite places in the whole entire world. We have the one and only Jeanette Gabi. And we are so welcome to have you, Jeanette. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. And I just said, we went over your last name before we got on here. And goodbye is actually how we do say it. Yes, you got it. But Jeanette, you are just such a pearl within the world and truly an Esther of our generation. And we are so honored to have you today. Can you just share, Jeanette, where you are today? joining us from and some of the leadership positions that you have held thus far.
JEANETTE GABAY :
Hi, everyone. So my name is Jeanette. I’m calling in today from the Golan Heights, which is in northern Israel. The small village that I live in is called a kibbutz. It’s a small, sweet village. We have about 120 families and it looks out on the Sea of Galilee. So that’s pretty phenomenal. Huge privilege. I used to live in Jerusalem for many, many years, but I was born and raised in the Netherlands. Met my prince charming and that brought me to Israel. Yeah, which is a whole story in and of itself. But basically, I studied to be a lawyer, studied law and international law, worked in an organization that was basically a network of international lawyers from all around the world that are dealing with the topic of Israel. um basically every time when you know big international bodies like like the un or you know the european parliament whatever when they bring out documents that speak about israel uh we would go over all of that and there’s usually a lot to say about it so um we think that israel is treated unfairly very often um by these organizations so you know we we we went over it and gave uh remarks and comments and so on and gave her two lawmakers and so on um for real i’m a i’m a writer and i’m a freelance writer for different christian and newspapers mainly in the netherlands and we’re right about israel you know the fact that i’m living here now just gives me this you know wonderful opportunity to look at you know what is going on around me with both Israeli eyes and Dutch eyes, which makes me, I guess, a good channel to bring news into the world about what is going on here. And also, me and my husband, we have a tour company. So we host people from all over the world here in Israel. And it is the biggest privilege. I would have never thought that that would be what I would be doing. But really… everyone visiting Israel is going back home as an ambassador in so many ways. He or she looks entirely different on the Bible. Everything gets, you know, three-dimensional. There’s so much more understanding about, you know, the biblical roots, the roots of our faith, the whole context that Jesus was preaching in and acting in. And also, you know, current day Israel, what’s going around? Did you see, you’re exposed to different people and all that. So all of that creates a wonderful package. um for investor making basically and i’m also very proud to be called a mom and i have three wonderful boys uh they’re aged 11 9 yeah to do the counting and five yeah so life is very full but i’m very blessed
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, we love that, Jeanette. And if you look at you, I mean, you look like you’re in your early 20s. And it is just incredible just to be able to see your zeal and passion and just the ripple effect that you have had on humanity. And so excited to dive into a lot of those stories, especially we love a good love story. So we’re definitely going to tap into that a little bit. Jeanette, can you just take us back, you know, just your very beginnings of being a little girl and growing up, you said in the Netherlands, what that was like. And for those that haven’t visited Netherlands, just to be able to know the beauty of it, the culture and how God started dropping these seeds to know that this was your God-given calling today.
JEANETTE GABAY :
Well, yeah, so the Netherlands is a very small country. I don’t even know to what state to prepare it, but it’s rather small. It’s very flat. There is literally no mountain whatsoever in the entire country. It’s a very water-rich country, very green, pretty open people. I grew up in a family where, you know, Being where I’m at right now, looking back, I feel so privileged. I was raised in a family where both of my parents are God-fearing people. They love the Lord, they love the scriptures, and that has been my fundament for life. And before them, my grandparents, and before them, their parents. So I’m really standing on a very firm foundation, which is something that I’ve gotten to. appreciate very much you know especially being where i’m at today um so i’m the eldest of three i have a sister and a brother um i’m a very typical firstborn i would say uh well a lot of responsibility and I’m a pretty serious girl in many ways. Yes. And yeah, so my child was very protected. My parents were part of what is called a Dutch Reformed Church, which is rather traditional in a sense. So imagine, you know, there are pretty strict rules for how you are supposed to live your life as a Christian. So we had to look a certain way or to wear skirts, there’s a station between boys and girls, and school as well. So Sunday observance was almost like Orthodox Jews will do. It’s very interesting, in some ways I sometimes feel like that was just preparing me for Israel in a sense. But again, as I mentioned, my parents were in there with all of their heart. So that has been an incredible base. I remember thinking back, I always thought of myself as not being much of a dreamer. But lately, sometimes people help you to relive some of your memories and so on. So a while ago, my mom shared a letter for me that I had apparently written to my mom in my early teenage years. where I’m basically telling her that I will probably move abroad, which is very funny because, you know, I grew up in this very sort of small world, you know, very protected, with not much exposure to pretty much anything. But apparently that was one of the first I’m sorry about that. One of the first little drops that God was putting on my heart. So she reminded me and they said it was just fun. So I was apparently dreaming about something. Yes. Yeah. Realized then, you know, during school, I was pretty good at learning languages. So all of that together, you know, made me think that I could maybe make it abroad for some reason or the other. yeah um and look at you now Jeanette yes isn’t it funny yeah yes so so you know I started and thankfully even though you know this was a very protected sort of a small world my parents they let me like spread out my wings and um I was pretty young when I started I joined um an organization called European Christian Political Youth Network. It’s basically a network of young people who want to be active in a political world or think they could, you know, add something. And so I thought that could be really interesting just to meet a bunch of people. And so I started going, seeing different countries everywhere, building up quite a nice network of people, Christians all over Europe. Wow. And that then brought me to study international law and so on. So it’s very interesting looking back, you know, that actually the Lord was paving the road like pretty early on.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right. And Jeanette, did you… I mean, to go into international law, especially as just a female and also just within Europe and just all the different aspects, because you could have just… been a lawyer for the Netherlands or, you know, just kind of stayed in that box. But you had the foresight to be able to see the expansion that would be able to give you the opportunity and resources and tools to then be connected with the UN and several others. How did you pick international law?
JEANETTE GABAY :
Well, actually, it’s interesting. Looking back, you see how everything sort of clicks and comes together. But really, when I joined this European Christian political youth organization, somebody said to me that I should go visit Israel. There was a guy there that put funding together and would invite future politicians. Which is hilarious. We were definitely not politicians. I’m not looking to be. But we were active within this network. So I thought this is an amazing chance. You know, someone is actually paying me to come see Israel. I didn’t have much understanding nor longing nor anything really Israel related. I mean, grew up as a Christian, so I knew, you know, Israel as a biblical concept, but had never really drawn the line from the biblical Israel to today’s Israel. So I went there with, you know, sort of a political mindset and so on. Anyway, I remember going there and thinking, I’m going to, you know, Get her some answers. So complicated over there. You know, I’ll get back and I’ll probably be able to straighten some things out. So what happened was that I got back.
CHRYSANDRA :
And I’m going to pause you right there. We have to go to a short break. But everyone, we have the incredible Jeanette. Goodbye. And we are so grateful to have her. We are hearing how she was able to go about being an international lawyer. We’ll be right back. Twist and shout with Lee & Co. They are the premier oldies band delivering the rock and roll vibes you’ve been missing. Great songs, great memories. Book them at LeeAndCo.com. Hi guys, this is Chrysandra Brunson, host of To All The Dreamers. I am so happy to introduce personal training, nutritional guidance, and behavioral change coaching. Healthy, happy, and heavenly for your wellness, spirit, soul, and body. Contact Mimi Kroger at healthyhappyandheavenly.com. Continue to grow in the calling God has for you through ORU online.
JEANETTE GABAY :
You can earn your degree without changing your busy schedule. 100% online and 100% on your time. Learn more today. ORU.edu slash calling.
CHRYSANDRA :
At Ignite Brilliance Coaching, you will get 34 years of science teaching, a decade of university level instruction, and over 10 years of instructional coaching to empower educators with the tools, mindset, and confidence to thrive. Contact Ignite Brilliance Coaching on Facebook. This is The Calling on Crawford Broadcasting, the show where marketplace leaders share their stories of faith, bridging the gap between your career and your God-given calling. Listen every weekday or become a sponsor and help other people live out their God-given calling. We are back. Thank you for listening to all the Dreamers radio show. We have the one and only Jeanette. Goodbye. And Jeanette, you were just sharing with us about becoming and choosing to be an international lawyer and that it really started with being able to travel and having the opportunity to go to Israel.
JEANETTE GABAY :
Yeah, totally. So I came back from this trip with so many questions. And what I picked up on is really that, you know, no measure really corresponds to the amount of attention that Israel is getting. So you can take whatever measure you want. you know, the amount of people that were killed in conflict or, you know, pretty much any pyramid that you would take. There are all the conflicts that are way bigger, but don’t get even, you know, the slightest amount of attention. So I went back home to the Netherlands and I thought, I’m just going to go and dive deeper. So I did. I kind of choose two tracks one track was my international law studies and the other track was really going deeper into the bible and in the end those two interconnected so such a significant way so very interestingly you know all of that kind of in many ways prepared my path ahead um because as the lord probably knew already i would never been able to have been a you know a a dutch practitioner to be a Dutch lawyer because my path was leading somewhere else.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right, right. Well, we’re so grateful that you said yes. And Jeanette, that you were able to see this calling on your life. And for those that don’t know where you’re currently living, can you just share a little bit of the context of the Golden Heights and the beauty of it and the reality that you guys are facing right now.
JEANETTE GABAY :
Yeah, absolutely. So the golden Heights are in Northern Israel. So, so imagine that Jerusalem is in center. We have the desert South and then we have a lush green, uh, Northern parts, which basically surrounds the state of Galilee. So it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s incredibly beautiful. And we’ve had our first rains since, you know, a few weeks ago. So everything is green currently. The Golan Heights specifically they’re east of the sea and they’re up high. So the Golan Heights started like plus 400 meters or whatever it would be in Finland. So we’re really like looking on the Sea of Galilee lays below us now. The Golan Heights, the village that we live in is about three miles from the Syrian border. Now, Syria is a country that we’re not in peace with currently. As a matter of fact, there’s a long history of conflict between Israel and Syria. Basically, interestingly, when we quickly connect back to international law, both Syria and Israel, they have their international law legitimacy sits on the same treaty. when Syria was established, all was fine. When Israel was established a little later, Syria thought that Israel was legitimate. So it would use the area where I’m currently living as sort of a point from where they could, you know, shoot projectiles and rockets and all sorts of different things in the lower Galilee, around the Sea of Galilee. So this has led to, you know, prolonged tension and eventually Israel was so done with it and was so dangerous to live in the lower areas that it captured the Golan Heights in 1967 and has kept it ever since. At the very beginning, the idea was to negotiate, give the land back, get to a peace agreement, but that has never worked. And as some of you might know, there was a pretty terrible dictator sitting there for the longest time. And he fell about a year ago, actually, as part of the results of the war going on here. But currently, there is a big power vacuum. We’re only starting to get to know the new guys on the block and starting to see what that really means for us. all in all a pretty insecure in in that sense uh you know the reality of today is not the reality of tomorrow right um but israel’s government is very actively trying to you know to stimulate young families to come up here uh basically wherever you’re not you know having a substantial population there is a risk of losing the area release so and there that was actually one of the reasons why we moved here as well all of central israel is just Very expensive. It’s very hard to get, you know, good houses and so on. And with our three very active boys, we were looking for a little bit more space. So one I want to sue. And here we are.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, I think that you guys are so brave and in the perfect spot to be able to impact humanity and families. We love asking Jeanette just on this journey of being able to go after God’s calling. We know that there’s so many different giants that do come up and try to stop us from what we know in our heart of hearts that God has for us. How have you been able to persevere through all the ups and downs, especially in this war within Israel, just in the battle of going after the dream in international law? Even you’ve mentioned with the United Nations. Can you just give us an example that first comes to mind?
JEANETTE GABAY :
Yeah, interestingly, you know, I thought that, well, like peddling as a lawyer for Israel, I would be able to make ambassadors, you know, for Israel. And that turned out to be pretty hard. So at some point, basically after getting to know my husband, he was by then already owning the tour business. And I started, you know, just observing what God is doing with people while they are here in the land. And I saw that those people are turning into ambassadors for Israel most of the time. So within time, what started really working in my heart, that actually all of that had been a preparation for turning a little slightly and just making ambassadors in a different way. And then once I had figured that out, it took me quite a while, there were a lot of giants on the way. So imagine. Thinking we’re called to bring as many people as possible to the land, and then COVID hits. No in, no out. Nothing was going on. It was pretty terrible. I remember at some point, my husband and I said together, we have to work on a plan B. Actually, we were acting in distrust in many ways. I mean, we both knew what calling the Lord had put on both of our hearts. Yet, you know, okay, we have to provide for our family. Let’s lay out a plan B. So my husband started studying to be a real estate agent. Interestingly, the first ever… lease that he could organize while they were celebrating in a restaurant, a pastor from Brazil was sitting right next to them, started talking to them, and he got them right back to the tour business and started sending groups over, which made it pretty impossible to be active as a real estate agent, which looking back is so fascinating. Like when we were at the point of sort of giving up, the Lord just really grabbed us. back to the core, and like, okay, you keep doing what you do. And then we continued doing what we did, and then the war hit, which was just another, you know, immense giant. But it always, you know, it’s like the Lord is peeling off layers and just emphasizing different aspects of, you know, the same core mission. So we brought people here to make them ambassadors to Israel. Now we realize that those people that we brought here are actually sending a message to the Israelis that are seeing people come in in times like these and just the sheer amount of support from abroad and the actual fact that we do have friends abroad now we feel very privileged to know that there are Christians in the world that stand with Israel and understand Israel and and know what Israel is going through but right the average Israeli has absolutely no idea so so the war showed us that you know our mission is still the same but it has just this other aspect that it actually works outward in a different way than we ever thought so we’re really taking this quite seriously whenever people stood up for israel um you know people that usually bring tours with us or uh but they’ve showed all you know kindness to israel in all sort of different ways and stood up for what is going on here we have showed that you know to our little community here on the golden heights or you know broader friend circle and it has been incredible i said like it has led to so much openness and um Yeah, so all in all, you know, you see this threat going through everything. And, you know, you try to divert and the Lord is just pushing you back. And so all in all, you know, a lot to be thankful for. Yes.
CHRYSANDRA :
You guys have been incredible and persevering in the most unlikely circumstances. And thank you, Jeanette, to you and your husband for not giving up. And you know there is there’s such a ripple effect to that resilience we are coming up Jeanette to the end of our show we don’t know where time goes um but already I know but we have we are excited we’re hoping to have you back sooner than later um but Jeanette real quick before we go we want to ask um your wisdom and then we also want to know how we can connect with you we know that there are there’s one listener at least tuning in and they are just thinking, Oh, well that, that’s great. Um, that they’re able to go after their God given dreams, but how in the world could I, um, there’s, you know, I, how could I do that? What would be your biggest, um, piece of wisdom that you would be able to give their heart?
JEANETTE GABAY :
Oh, it’s hard to pick one. I think a major thing is growing capacity day by day. So it’s just when I look back and the Lord would have just told me, you know, in 10 years from now, you will be doing ABC. I would have said, no, no, no, no way. It’s too much to take. But looking back, you know, it were all the minor steps. So that led up to, you know, actually being where we’re at today. And that ties together with the fact that I think it’s very, very important to steward well what we currently have, like I think chasing after dreams or something, which is very, very important, but it can make you too future focused or too much stuck in the past like but i think the lord has you know put you in in the current position that you’re in uh for a reason so when you’re stewarding that well he will eventually lead you you know gently and step by step towards uh towards your bigger dreams that’s something that i’ve experienced throughout the last years
CHRYSANDRA :
That is so powerful. The power of stewardship and that imprint. Oh, that. And I think that you’re one of the first ones to really speak about that on the show. We really appreciate that. That is that’s very powerful. How can everyone get in touch with you and be part of this movement? Have the opportunity. I know that there’s so many people that have it on their bucket list to come visit Israel to be able to have you and your husband be their tour guide would be such a dream. I know that I’m like, oh, I want to go back sooner than later so I can come be with you guys. But what’s the best? Yeah, that’s.
JEANETTE GABAY :
You can find me on Instagram. That’s probably the best way to connect with me. Genetica by J-E-A-N-N-E-T-T-E-G-A-B-A-Y. And there in my bio, you can find the company that we’re running. It’s called Kesha Journeys. We also run an online masterclass for anyone who was interested in Israel, where we just, you know, go deep on the different sites and especially site and scripture connections. So if you do not have the opportunity of coming to Israel currently, you you can enroll in our online master classes and just, you know, get a taste of what it is like and just learn a whole lot. So I guess that would be the best way to connect with me.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, everyone, please go pull over, be able to follow Jeanette, you’ll be able to also find her on our social media. If you’re listening to this live in your car or at work, you’ll be able to see these incredible sites, these incredible life changing opportunities to join her and her husband. And we’re hoping that she’ll be back sooner than later. So please stay tuned for future shows with Jeanette. You are listening to this for such a time as this. Remember that God has such a powerful calling to live out in and through you. Till next time, dreamers, keep dreaming big.
