In part two of this powerful conversation, Tamera continues sharing her story of being brought into the Grandin, Missouri Nationwide Mennonite church and learning to survive within a high-control religious environment she did not choose. We explore coercive control, belonging, faith, gender roles, survival, and the complicated process of questioning and leaving insular systems.

Through Tamera’s story, this episode offers a nuanced look at life inside Mennonite communities, the pressures placed on women, and the resilience it takes to find one's voice.

Follow along and support the work:
Substack: The Plain People’s Project — https://substack.com/@theplainpeoplesproject
Website: www.theplainpeoplespodcast.com
Instagram: @ThePlainPeoplesPodcast

This week, we’re shifting locations and perspective.

Instead of Ohio, we’re heading to Missouri, where I sit down with a former member of the Grandin church. Raised by a single mother, she shares her story of being brought into the church as a young girl—navigating a world she didn’t choose, and learning how to survive within it.

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, we explore the complexity of being brought into a high-control religious environment against your will, the pressure to conform, and the quiet adaptations people make just to get through each day. This episode offers a nuanced look at identity, belonging, and survival inside the plain community.

Part 2 will continue her story and dive deeper into what comes next.

Listen now and follow along as we continue uncovering stories from within plain communities.

Follow & Support:
Substack: The Plain People’s Project – https://substack.com/@theplainpeoplesproject
Website: https://www.theplainpeoplespodcast.com
Instagram: the plain peoples podcast

Picking back up where we left off in the last recording, I sat down with a law enforcement officer out of Ohio to hear his perspective on The Amish Restoration Team.

You’ll hear his real-time reactions to the answers the RT has been giving Amish women within their communities—and what that actually looks like from the outside looking in.

Law enforcement often gets a bad reputation in these conversations, accused of not doing enough to address abuse. But the question we have to ask is… how much can they do if the barriers put in place by the church prevent them from even knowing what’s happening?

If you want to follow along with this work, access additional research, and support these stories being told, you can find more on Substack at The Plain People’s Project, and follow along on Instagram at The Plain People’s Podcast.