Jeanne Booy-Advokaat (1941)
A life full of fruit
The remarkable life story of Jeanne Booy and her calling.
We have known her for years. When we were youth leaders of a large group of young people, we visited her and Arend twice in southern Italy. Two courageous warriors in the Kingdom of God. Now, many years later, Jeanne is the only one left. Arend passed away ten years ago, and since then, as a widow, she has found her place in a beautiful and cozy apartment in Amersfoort. It is a privilege for my wife and me to visit her, reminisce, and enjoy the testimonies about her life with the Lord.
A childhood full of contrasts
Jeanne comes from Alblasserdam, just outside Rotterdam and close to the windmills in Kinderdijk. Her father worked as a manager at the local shipyard. He was a man with both feet firmly on the ground. The family was well off. When they went on vacation, a private driver took them to hotels throughout the Netherlands.
“A bit of prosperity,” as Jeanne herself soberly describes it.
Yet family life was not exactly “warm.” There was little real conversation. Father was a quiet man, mother hospitable and active, but there was a lack of depth. “We never really got close to each other’s hearts,” Jeanne says honestly. Everyone went their own way a bit.
What struck her as a child was the sharp contrast in how Sundays were spent. Because the family had a boat, they would go to the marina wearing white sneakers and sailing suits. In contrast, the “devout” churchgoers in the street walked slowly to church on Sundays, often dressed in dark clothes, girls wearing black patent leather shoes. It was all very serious and somber. Jeanne, on the other hand, enjoyed freedom on the waves while sailing with her family. “I actually hated religion,” she admits. “I thought that was what religion was: that colorless austerity.”
The first spark
After elementary school in Kinderdijk—at the Biggeltjesschool with its characteristic exterior walls of cement and gravel—she attended HBS in Rotterdam-Zuid and then secretarial training at Schoevers. Jeanne enjoyed that time among the ambitious girls. But the real turning point in her youth lay elsewhere.
She was about fifteen when her mother came to a radical faith after having a dream. In it, she was sitting in a deep pit. She repeatedly tried to climb out, but unfortunately she kept falling back to the bottom. Suddenly, a great light appeared with the figure of Jesus at the top of the pit, and He said, “Without Me, you can do nothing!” Then He reached out His hand to her, and she was pulled out of the pit.
This change in her mother’s life brought more warmth and joy to the family. “When I came home, I often found my mother singing in the kitchen!” Her father’s conversion took decades, but at the age of 72, he was baptized by immersion by Dick van Steenis.
Jeanne attended the meetings of the Full Gospel Church in the Groothandelsgebouw in Rotterdam, where men such as Jan Rothuizen, Doornbos, and Sjaak Roose spoke. Hans Sas and Henk Dik were also well-known names in this church at the time.
“Convert?” As a teenager, Jeanne initially didn’t understand. “I’m a good girl, aren’t I? I don’t hurt anyone.” But in a conversation with Pastor Jan Rothuizen, he asked her a few penetrating questions: “Do you go to the hairdresser? Do you buy clothes? Why do you go to school?“ At the end, he said, ”Do you see what this is all about? It’s all about you!“ That hit home. ”I don’t want to be selfish,” she decided. The next step—why she needed Jesus personally—still had to sink in. But it became clear!
The foundation
At the age of nineteen, Jeanne was baptized by Johan Maasbach in the Sportfondsenbad in Dordrecht. The eight years that followed were dominated by work and evangelism, but also by a growing desire for a solid foundation. She was busy with conversion, the Holy Spirit, and healing, but she felt that a deeper knowledge of the Bible and a relationship with God were still lacking. Through Piet Waljaard, she ended up attending winter courses at a Bible school in the Danish town of Kolding. She went there for two winters.
The meetings in Hilversum, where she heard Sidney Wilson and Anne van der Bijl speak, also left a lasting impression on her. During a youth weekend where Anne spoke, he asked the question: “Are you always a mission field that needs to be sown, or will you yourself become a missionary who goes out to sow?” Partly because of that question, Jeanne’s life took a more missionary direction.
The call to Italy
After two weeks of evangelism with “Operation Pentecost Fire” in Velp and Aalten, led by Dick Zwart, he asked her if she would like to go to Italy as an administrative support for the team. Jeanne was stunned. “Holy people go on missions—people who are already fully formed and full of gifts. That’s not me, is it?” She promised to pray about it.
At that time, Jeanne was working in the office of the magazine “Kracht van Omhoog” (Power from Above). When the proof was ready, it was taken personally to the printer in Hoenderloo. There, they prayed for a blessing on the magazine. During that prayer meeting, Brother Riemersma shared a vision: he saw a large road that narrowed and curved at the end (the boot of Italy), and that road was brightly lit. Jeanne’s heart was pounding in her throat. “That says it all, brother!” Not only from this unexpected source, but also through a subsequent event, God miraculously confirmed her calling to Italy.
When she told her supervisor at “Kracht van Omhoog” (Power from Above), Brother Van den Brink, about her plans, he reacted somewhat skeptically, because he did not want to lose Jeanne. But she promised him that she would not abandon him, but would pray for a successor. And that successor came: Frieda Bakker. Her application letter was already on the doormat the following Monday. Frieda not only took over her position, but later even became Brother Van den Brink’s daughter-in-law. “If I hadn’t gone,” Jeanne teased him later, “you would never have had such a lovely daughter-in-law!”
Culture shock
In January 1968, Jeanne and another colleague traveled by train to the provincial capital of Potenza in southern Italy. “It seemed endless.” She was immediately struck by the closed wooden shutters on the houses. “Don’t Italians like daylight?” A month earlier, Arend had arrived from Drenthe by minibus. When the team was complete (the Zwart family, Gerrit Heemink, Arend Booy, Hetty Dalhuijsen, Nel Zwart, Bianca Bouman, Janneke Houwen, and Jeanne), they were blessed at the Beukenstein conference center in Driebergen.
The missionary adventure, which would last more than forty-five years for Arend and Jeanne, began. They married in February 1969 and had five children: four sons and a daughter. Thanks in part to the help of Dutch au pairs, Jeanne was able to remain involved in the development of the various churches alongside Arend, while also continuing her work as a translator for the magazine Pensieri dall’Alto and various books.
Their house, called Arendsnest (Arend’s Nest), could just as well have been called De zoete inval (The Sweet Invitation). It was often a place of welcome, hosting guests or providing shelter to people in need.
Struggle and protection
However, life in the mission was no fairy tale. In Molfetta, a city full of occult practices, they lived in a former priest’s house. The children slept poorly, and one of the boys saw a demon at the foot of his bed every night. Arend was on tour in the Netherlands at the time; Jeanne was left alone with four young children. Fortunately, she was able to call on the spiritual help of their colleague Pinuccio to pray the house clean. Immediately afterwards, peace returned to the children.
Every day, a woman came by for prayer because she wanted to be freed from the black magic she had become entangled in. She would show the bruises on her body from her nightly battles with darkness. It was a difficult spiritual battle that only broke through after a long period of perseverance. On another occasion, Jeanne experienced specific protection from the Lord when a woman came to the door asking for a photo of little Liliana. Not knowing that she had evil intentions, Jeanne went to look for it, but the inner voice of the Holy Spirit warned her: “She is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Jeanne sent the woman away empty-handed. It later turned out that she was a witch who wanted to use the photo of her daughter to exert an evil influence on the family and the ministry.
A broader heart
Thanks to pioneers such as evangelists Ab and Corine van Ommen, churches were established in the following places: Potenza, Trani, Tolentino, and San Severino. Arend and Jeanne succeeded them as pastoral workers.
In 1988, their calling changed. The Full Gospel Mission Italy purchased a country house as a conference center, now known as Centro Evangelico “Il Rifugio” in Ruvo di Puglia. Arend and Jeanne were given responsibility for this center. During this period, they learned to interact with Baptists, Adventists, Youth with a Mission, etc., who held conferences at the center. Gradually, Jeanne’s heart became more open. “Not so black and white, but with more respect for those who think differently.” For her, this is not “compromising,” because she holds fast to the Bible, but she is more focused on seeing Jesus in others.
Letting go of her children was also a great learning experience. When the home front advised sending the children to the Netherlands for their secondary education, Jeanne and Arend decided to stay in Italy, provided they got the “green light” from God. That light did not come, and in retrospect it turned out to be the right choice; all five found their way in society, whether in America, Italy, or the Netherlands. Regarding “letting go,” Henk Lijzenga made a wise statement: “God always goes with our children, even to the disco!” “Letting go” is not “letting them fall,” but entrusting them into God’s hands.
Miracles
When Arend had a heart attack and the doctors at the hospital in Bari considered surgery too risky, he had to be rushed to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. The embassy arranged for Arend to be transported in Berlusconi’s private plane. The cost of 40,000 euros was fully covered by insurance. “A pure miracle!” she still says with great gratitude.
Even when the financial situation of the meeting center “Il Rifugio” was dire, a divine miracle took place. Through a close friend, a pastor couple, they heard that a very large gift was on its way through an inheritance. Tears of deep concern turned into tears of overwhelming gratitude! This allowed all loans and debts to be paid off, and there was still money left over for the necessary restoration. Hallelujah!
Farewell
After more than 45 years, Arend and Jeanne returned to the Netherlands. Since Arend’s death, Jeanne misses her sounding board: “As a people person, you want to experience things together, then give feedback, pray together, be involved together in the ups and downs of your children, the church, etc. A hug, a compliment… I miss so much. But I am incredibly grateful for my children and in-laws, 17 grandchildren (one of whom is already with the Lord), for friends at home and abroad, for the church, and last but not least, for my health. “All glory to my Heavenly Father!”
Jeanne later discovered that she is highly sensitive (HSP). Actually, she already knew this as a child, when she preferred to be alone in a classroom with a view of the windmills during lunch break at elementary school rather than in a crowded auditorium. That sensitivity makes her vulnerable, but it is also her strength. She really listens, she senses people. Whether it’s a woman from Iran she meets at the lake in her neighborhood or an acquaintance from the gym, Jeanne sees the person.
The message for now
She imparts the wisdom of Proverbs 3 to the younger generation: “Your life matters to God. You are precious to Him. Therefore, seek His guidance in every choice and develop your talents, whether it be writing, painting, or serving. And realize: wisdom does not come all at once, it grows with you.”
A lasting fruit
The churches that were established are now led by the second and even third generation of God’s faithful men. The magazine “Pensieri dall’Alto,” which began as a small church newsletter, grew into a beautiful, colorful magazine that has been distributed throughout Italy for forty years, not only by mail, but also thanks to the lectures given by Arend and other pastors.
When they left the Netherlands, they were given the powerful text from John 15:16-17:
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
Looking back on Jeanne’s life after many years, one can only conclude that this fruit is there and has remained.
wim@vanputten