Swartzentruber AMISH: My Midnight Escape From One of the Strictest Settlements ft. Lovina Zook
Cults to Consciousness
Shelise Ann Sola, Jonathan C Rosales
4.8 • 574 Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2026
⏱️ 98 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
No electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing. Lovina Zook grew up in one of the strictest Amish settlements started by her own family. It was common to marry cousins as most people there were related by blood and a woman would be considered an “old maid” if still single by 24 yrs old. Lovina discusses the hardest parts including struggling with mental heath, strict rules and not receiving any love or affection from parents of family members. As soon as she turned 18, she ran away in the middle of the night with the intention to become more than the Amish would ever allow. Lovina would then find a massive following on social media.
Click here to watch on YouTube
Watch our follow up LIVE with Lovina answering your questions
Find Lovina on social media!
YT: https://www.youtube.com/@lovina_zook/videos
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lovina_zook/
TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovina_zook
Website: https://socialsbylovina.com/
Subscribe to our C2C "CLIPS" Channel!
Support C2C - Any donations are welcome and appreciated to support the making of this podcast.
Find our FULL (uncensored) merch store here!
Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cultstoconsciousness
Venmo @sheliseann
Find us on Social media!
Instagram @cultstoconsciousness
Host Instagram @sheliseann
Co Producer / Host @jonathan.rosales_
TikTok @cults.to.consciousness
Twitter @cultstocon
**Disclaimer: Thanks for joining us at Cults to Consciousness. This storytelling podcast is meant to be for entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for medical advice. We may discuss triggering topics and we ask that you make your personal mental health a priority. Lastly, the opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host.**
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:17 Lovina's Amish settlement
00:06:01 How leadership is determined
00:10:52 Strict dress code
00:17:18 Importance of covering hair in Amish tradition
00:20:42 What family like was like for Lovina
00:26:30 Lack of affection within the household
00:34:17 Hygiene standards within the community
00:42:38 Why she ran away
00:48:52 Marrying cousins & s*xual repression
00:55:46 Smuggl*ng books
00:58:10 Why Lovina didn't want to be baptized
01:04:25 When Lovina left
01:15:29 Difficulties after leaving
01:28:01 How her parents treated her after leaving
01:33:15 Linda, listen
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You didn't want to be too skinny, but you had to be skinny. |
| 0:03.0 | People openly made sure you know you're fat. |
| 0:06.0 | And if you were too skinny, they tease you about breaking in half. |
| 0:10.0 | You can make fun off so badly for acne. |
| 0:13.0 | It's pitiful and not just by outsiders in the community, by your parents. |
| 0:19.0 | For the kids, we would usually do six. For the adults, we would do maybe three or four in one bathwater before we could change it. |
| 0:25.6 | Like for the little kids, imagine how many of them pee in that bathwater. |
| 0:30.6 | No! |
| 0:31.6 | I don't want this. I just don't want this. |
| 0:34.6 | I don't want to work on the sawmill. |
| 0:36.6 | I don't want to get baptized. Like, I don't want this. I don't want to work on the sawmill. I don't want to get baptized. |
| 0:38.3 | Like, I don't like this anymore. I can't commit suicide. No, I don't want that because I want to live. |
| 0:46.2 | But the only other option was leaving the Amish. And I'm like, leaving the Amish is just wrong. That's wrong. |
| 0:52.7 | I'm going to hell if I do that. |
| 0:54.9 | Mine is the only voice. What have I been doing? |
| 0:57.9 | Lay down my autonomy. |
| 1:00.5 | After that, it got very dark, very quickly. |
| 1:09.1 | Hey guys, my name is Shalise Anzola and this is Colts to Consciousness where we discuss |
| 1:13.3 | leaving high demand religions or organizations and finding healing and independence through |
| 1:18.2 | awareness and true individual sovereignty. |
| 1:20.3 | If you're only on those podcast platforms and you'd prefer to see our faces and our guests |
| 1:24.7 | lovely attire today, please go to youtube at close to consciousness |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Shelise Ann Sola, Jonathan C Rosales, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Shelise Ann Sola, Jonathan C Rosales and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.