Hi friends, old and new! For those of you who are not familiar with me or my work, my name is Jasper Hoffman, a former member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite church. I’m a product of the original trad wife movement that occurred in the late 80s/early 90s in Northern California, ushering in conservative Anabaptists into the Pacific North West by ways of CA Homeschooler’s Network.
Raised in a normal family until the age of 9, I was pulled out of public school and pulled down the Jim Jones-esque slope into becoming a conservative Mennonite. I have been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Apple News, Peacock’s SINS OF THE AMISH documentary, was the very first Mennonite (current or former) to speak in Washington DC at the capitol on Amish and Mennonite abuse crimes, as well as several other speaking opportunities, including the PA State Capitol in 2023.
In 2018 I launched the very first podcast made available to the public, summoning attention to the struggles and triumphs of leaving high control, high demand religion in a Plain church. (Plain People is a term widely used to describe Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite and other conservative Anabaptist people.) You can find The Plain People’s Podcast on any available streaming platforms.
One could say… I have done things in this little body of mine.
Over the last several years, many have watched me shape shift and stretch online as my calling has grown. What once was just a fun little creative project to discuss the joys of buying frozen peas became a full fledge abuse investigation, one that I never expected or was prepared for. For some time I have felt the weight of it all on my shoulders, tripping me forward as I stumbled down the hill trying to balance it all, leading me here.
Upon it’s conception, I had so many aspirations that took a back burner very quickly once abuse cases and stories came pouring into my inbox. My initial dream of showcasing a full spectrum look into a culture shrouded in mystery was quickly shelved away, leaving little to become creative over. I have forever longed for a home for this project. One that has cooking videos shot within Mennonite homes, giving you an inside peek at the African Violets on the window sill, the scalloped carnival wear gleaming in the light as it contains pink FLUFF…the most amazing dessert you will ever taste. A place for scrapbooks, and circle letters, sewing circles and the underbelly of it all, personal stories.
I hope you find this place a digital scrapbook of a culture not many know much of, and can find a place among us here. You just have to let me put U in the cult, and the cult into our culture.
Love, your soon to be favorite sinfluencer and sister fallen from grace,
Jasper Hoffman
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