nofilter: Pioneering the dream – raw, real & relatable

By Tabea Oppliger

Don’t we all like to scroll through the "highlight reels" of people’s lives we often don’t even know? Filters hide flaws and shortcomings and make us lose connection to the raw, the real and the relatable. In #nofilter Tabea Oppliger shows that pioneering a dream involves blood, sweat and tears and that #nofilter is not just a hashtag, but a lifestyle and a calling.

Written straight from her life in Tel Aviv, Israel, a melting pot of different cultures, she tells of her relentless commitment to helping exploited people with her social business "KitePride" and her non-profit organization "GlowbalAct". With each line of this book you will not only be inspired but challenged to become active yourself, to discover your own unique gift and simply to begin with what is in your hands; making hashtags and dreams your reality.

"Don’t wait until you’re ready. You’ll be waiting for the rest of your life." - Tabea Oppliger

Tabea Oppliger grew up in Papua New Guinea, the daughter of a Swiss couple. Tabea then lived in Switzerland for twenty years for education and professional reasons. There she married Matthias and became the mother of three children. In her tireless pursuit of justice and freedom, Tabea founded "GlowbalAct", a charitable organization dedicated to the abolition of modern-day slavery. Since 2014, she and her family have lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, leading their social start-up business "KitePride".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fontis
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9783038485827

Tabea Oppliger

Tabea Oppliger grew up in Papua New Guinea, the daughter of a Swiss couple. Tabea then lived in Switzerland for twenty years for education and professional reasons. There she married Matthias and became the mother of three children. In her tireless pursuit of justice and freedom, Tabea founded "GlowbalAct", a charitable organization dedicated to the abolition of modern-day slavery. Since 2014, she and her family have lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, leading their social start-up business "KitePride".

Book preview

Tabea Oppliger

#nofilter

www.fontis-verlag.com

Dedicated to Tabea Legler,

the first woman who was not afraid of my strength …

and to every single person who is reading this.

Tabea Oppliger

#nofilter

Pioneering the Dream

Raw, Real & Relatable

Logo_fontis_neu

© 2019 by Fontis-Verlag, Basel

© Cover: René Graf

Cover Photo: © by Tabea Oppliger

Interior Photography: Tim Carr, Bosa Feurer, Saskia Koch, Stefan Mikolon, Oppliger Family, Leon Seierlein

Paintings: © by Tabea Oppliger

E-Book pre-production: InnoSet AG, Justin Messmer, Basel

E-Book production: Textwerkstatt Jäger, Marburg

ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-03848-582-7

ISBN (MOBI) 978-3-03848-583-4

www.fontis-verlag.com

Contents

1. #aninvitation

2. #befoundinyourlane

3. #doyoufeelsafe

4. #massagebytabea

5. #obedienceisgodslovelanguage

6. #israel

7. #trainthemdonttamethem

8. #partnerincrime

9. #morethanjustabag

10. #relationshipversusreligion

11. #artbytabea

Epilogue

#gratitude

About the author

Contact

1

#aninvitation

Why write a book? The world has enough books.

But when you keep telling your story and the response is,

«Have you written a book?»

«You need to write a book!»

«When are you going to write a book?»

The timing is never right, just like the saying goes,

«If you wait till you’re ready, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life.»

So here goes. My humble story. Of living life out loud.

This is not your ordinary book. And it’s certainly not more information you already have: Rather, it’s an invitation.

I invite you to challenge your mind to not only feed on inspiration but to act upon it.

I’m going to take you with me on a journey and simply share a little bit of what I’ve learned, and am still learning along the way. We’re on eye-level. I’m still in it and will always be in the middle of whatever I’m writing about because what I do is LIFE. As a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, I do life. As a leader of a social justice movement, I live life to the full. All these hats I’m wearing are a lifelong commitment.

I’m in it for the long haul.

This book was written in waiting rooms, on trains, in between running errands, on my only day off, after the kids were in bed, in hotel rooms and on planes.

It is a mix of moments and memories, experiences and lessons, recipes and paintings. In the middle of life. Bear with me if you’re slightly OCD as I may be bringing you still popping corn.

While I speak a number of different languages fluently, I feel I don’t speak one 100 % properly. Because here’s the deal: I wrote this book myself and only had it proofread to correct grammar mistakes and bad punctuation (because I know that could ruin it for you). It’s all about #nofilter, about being raw, real and relatable so I want to make sure you’re reading me.

So even though I’m Swiss and my mother tongue is Swiss German, this book is originally written in English and translated into German. You’ll soon find out why.

Tabea – my name means «gazelle» in Aramaic

14 random facts about me – just because:

I used to be extremely shy as a child.

As far as my ancestors can be tracked down, I have none other than Swiss blood running through my veins. (I know, disappointing, right?!)

Swiss Laederach chocolate is my favorite.

My very first visit to the movies was at sixteen with my school class and we watched «Schindler’s List»!

Kitesurfing huge waves scares the crap out of me.

I have never had and still don’t have a television in my life.

Espresso, double and black.

Grey is the new black; I do not dye my hair.

Please don’t bring me flowers; leave them wild.

I hated my name «Tabea» when I was younger because no one could pronounce it in the English-speaking world I grew up in.

I did not like my broad face for the longest time especially because my cheeks seemed to be an open invitation for strangers to squeeze them.

I never wear make up. Hardly ever.

If you ask my son’s friends to sum me up in two words: crazy driver!

My husband and I are birthday twins.

2

#befoundinyourlane

I’m sure you’ve all watched Olympic track. Every athlete is assigned a lane to compete in and stay in. Not one of them would think of crossing over to another one or they would be disqualified. We all have a designated lane in life to run and persevere in. It’s up to us to be found faithfully in it.

I don’t know about you but I like to know and identify with the main character in a story or movie or play. While this book really isn’t about me, but rather about what God can accomplish through you when you are willing to go and do what no one has done before, allow me to properly introduce myself.

I’m an every day girl, doing every day things, daring to attempt something big enough that failure is guaranteed unless God steps in. (Bruce H. Wilkinson in The Prayer of Jabez)

Yes, I believe, I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His miracles, but please don’t let this make you put this book away. This is not an attempt to preach to you or to bible-bash you. You don’t have to share my opinion to get that I couldn’t do what I do without my faith. Just hear me out and let my life and love for people be the message.

Born as the 6th and last child to my Swiss parents, I was raised in Papua New Guinea, an island in the Pacific, just above Australia. My parents pioneered a very influential social and Christian faith-based movement over there for more than 40 years.

I grew up in a third world country for the first 16 years of my life which gives me the legitimate title of a so called Third Culture Kid. So I guess my childhood alone would fill a book, but that’s not my intention here. You’ll find out bits and pieces here that obviously shaped me and made me a lot of who I am today.

As I began to mentally prepare to write this book, I asked some of my closest friends to tell me what the first thing was that popped into their mind when they thought of me. It could be a noun, a verb, an adjective, just anything that they thought was me. These stood out to me the most:

Fierce adventurer

Loving doer

Astounding obedience

Bold faith

Risk taker

Strong yet sensitive

This may sound like I’ve just always happened to be this person. She sounds pretty intimidating. It says that she’s got it all together. Like I can’t even live up to her. And isn’t that so often what we allow ourselves to think when we start looking around instead of focusing in on who we are and what you and I individually have to bring to the table?

I hope this book will help you find that unique gift. I wrote it with you in mind and pray you can relate to my story.

Words have power and we need to remind ourselves of that every single day. The way my friends saw me is what they called out in me and in essence drew out of me. Speaking these qualities out loud means declaring their actual existence in our lives. Living from there and pressing play, not rewind is a choice we have to make daily.

I currently live in Israel. When we moved here five years ago we embarked firstly on a mission to learn Hebrew and in doing so, gain a better understanding of the culture. I remember sitting in those classes completely overwhelmed with an absolutely different language. One I could not relate to on a logical study level, which was frustrating to say the least because I speak numerous other tongues, however I was connecting to it on a spiritual level, grasping an extended understanding of God and the way He thinks.

As you already know, I believe in God and His Word. My life is built on the values of the Bible. Rather than religion, I live out a relationship with Him. When God first created man, He created us in His image to have a relationship with us. He spoke the world into existence. His words created things and called them into life.

Most Hebrew words are derived from a three letter root. So in the Hebrew language, to further understand a word and add insight to it we need to examine the root. Now the word for «speak» in Hebrew is «ledaber» and the word for «thing» is «davar» both words deriving from the same three letter root «Dalet, Bet, Reysh». In other words when you start speaking, you are naming something and calling it to appear in your life.

Another powerful thing I learned sitting in those classes at Tel Aviv University was the fact that Hebrew does not have a verb for «to have». Which basically means we don’t possess anything. Instead of «I have» they say, «There is to me» (yesh li¹) or for «I don’t have» they say, «There isn’t to me» (en li²). So to put it into context you would say, «There is to me – as in given to me – time.» Or the opposite, «There isn’t given to me time.» Which to me puts my entire life into perspective! It is either given to me or it is not given to me. It takes me to doing things from a place of rest rather than from a place of striving. I don’t own anything in that sense. What I have is a gift entrusted to me and it is here to serve the world. Not myself.

So, remember I said in my first fun facts that I used to be extremely shy especially when it came to speaking up?

For fear of doing something wrong or asking a question that would make me look stupid I kept quiet most of the time. This simply means I was not rooted in my identity.

Why? I could blame my upbringing; a very strict home where rules and regulations came before relationship. I did not know my mother and father as friends but rather as firm teachers. Don’t get me wrong, they loved us six children very dearly, but they could not always express it in ways that truly reached my heart. (We have a beautiful relationship now and they are my biggest fans!) This left me with a sense of insecurity. It made me feel like I was not good enough unless I performed perfectly.

My Dad was a genius and there was absolutely nothing he couldn’t do or build or fix or manage. Plus, he couldn’t just do it, he did it perfectly. And I mean that. It’s not just a kid bragging on their dad’s super hero abilities.

The fact that I was forced to grow up fast, beyond my years, being separated from my parents to attend boarding school hundreds of miles away from them at the age of 11 may have well nurtured independence, but it