Family Stories

Arrived in the United States! Clothes for Christmas... In September - Familia Lugo Moreno We are so excited for Familia Lugo Moreno. After many trials, a lot of hard work, and several miracles, they finally made it to the United States! We are excited to welcome them,...

A New Beginning When COVID hit, I saw a very obvious turn in everyone’s willingness and ability to help Operation Family Freedom. I couldn’t blame or judge anyone for it because it seemed like the whole world was preparing for survival in the face of the unknown. It...

A New BeginningOperation Family Freedom received a request to assist Familia Velasquez, from Venezuela, who was stranded in Arizona and trying to get to Utah. Familia Velasquez had presented at the border and requested asylum. For those who are not familiar with the...

A Computer To Change EverythingEditor Note, This article was originally written in Spanish and translated via Google translate.  The grammatical syntax may be slightly different than what you are used to.  If you need additional clarification please don’t hesitate to...

Earning the Promised Blessing The Riera family is an example of perseverance in the difficult times that Venezuela is experiencing. A young family that has built a home in the midst of adversity, but have been able to overcome obstacles through faith and devoted...

Gift Baskets for Fathers Day  Familia Emiliano moved from Venezuela to Colombia a few years ago in an effort to start a new life. Unfortunately, the benefits were not seen right away, and they have struggled to find a place where they can grow and flourish. After...

Finding help and hope in talents The Puerta family fights for their dreams and to give their children a better future. Leaving Venezuela was not easy, but being in another country is even more difficult.  It takes a lot of courage to get out and at the same time...

A migrant mechanic caught in a pandemicBrother Cermeño's story is one of many migrants who have left Venezuela with the hope of achieving a better quality of life. Latin America is full of Venezuelans who fled their country in search of salvation, many leave...

Sowing a Future of Faith"The earth is full and there is plenty of it" this is one of the scriptures that makes us appreciate all that God has left us to progress in this time and I think it is propitious to tell the story of faith of brother Alexis Bastidas. A...

My story of teaching young children and learning to survive in a communist countryChanging course  Have you ever thought about changing course? You will likely answer yes, but you have been wondering if instead of deciding for yourself, life circumstances force you to...

Brother Jimenez how it worked outYou may remember Brother Jimenez. One thing we do is try to limit the grant each family gets so as to spread the opportunities to as many families as possible. However, with brother Jimenez, we felt that he needed a little extra...

Familia Maury - Tough as Nails!  Familia Maury is a single mother and her son living in Venezuela. Much of Maury's immediate family has left Venezuela in an effort to find work and feed their families outside of the country. Familia Maury has decided to stay in...

A People Without a Home The Venezuelan migration and refugee crisis (also known as the Bolivarian diaspora), the largest recorded refugee crisis in the Americas, refers to the emigration of millions of Venezuelans from their native country during the presidencies of...

Familia Ramerez - A Talent for HammocksAs a missionary in South America, I personally gained a great love and appreciation for the traditional hammocks. At one point, I taught a family that made me a hammock that I still have to this day. These are not the little...

Familia Sandoval - A New Designer and Stolen BitcoinIn October of 2020 Familia Sandoval submitted an application for a grant to start a business making clothing. At the time of the request, the resources were not available, and several other families were in line...

Author and Riley nearly 18 years ago in Venezuela. Riley and her two childrenFamilia *Zulie - A Dramatic ExitOperation Family Freedom would like to pay a special tribute to the Late David Gene Fuqua, whose surviving family and friends provided significant financial...

Familia Rentiez - Turning Dirt into BuildingsFamilia Rentiez* lives in Venezuela and has seen firsthand how the country has deteriorated over the past two decades. When Juan contacted Operation Family Freedom he explained that he had been a public worker and has...

Familia Yanes* - Metal Works Familia Yanes* immigrated from Venezuela to Argentina a few years back. Covid 19 has increased the struggles the family has had in obtaining work, and food. They have experienced some Xenophobia and other challenges that come with being an...

Familia Lizardo - Surviving Venezuela Familia Lizardo* reached out to Operation Family Freedom the first part of June of 2020 with a grant request to start a small business selling fruit and vegetables. Jesus was frustrated with the situation in Venezuela, which was...

Familia MadenaFamilia Madena* applied for a grant with Operation Family Freedom in October of 2020. With years of experience in working with cement, the family wanted to produce products made out of cement. Familia Madena migrated from Venezuela to Colombia because...

Familia AlcalaNovember 19, 2020 Familia Alcala - Familia Alcala was widowed a few years back, and has since been trying to keep up and take care of her children. Recently her brother in law died due to COVID 19 and left her sister alone and sick also. Due to...

Familia Vasquez - From the River to the FreezerFamilia *Vasquez had severe problems with the home they were living in. The roof and walls were inadequate to protect them from the rain. The few things that they had were constantly getting wet, and making them sick....

Familia Ruizlin - Cooking Through Covid-19 ADVOCATE: Slade Gurr September 4, 2018 *Josephina had worked hard to leave her home town in Venezuela in order to find work and make a living with her family. While en route to a new home, with more hope and opportunity, her...

Familia Yris - Making Ends MeetYris is a mother of 2 young children. One of which has a medical condition that causes her to have seizures at random times, and can cause a lot of stress for the family, and requires constant medical control and a specific diet. Yaris...

Familia Delgado - Building a Sleepy Business Raquel reached out to Operation Family Freedom to help her family become more self-sufficient. Familia Delgado has TWO sets of TWINS! All four children are very young. With the pandemic, familia Delgado has had an extremely...

Familia Moreno - An Amazing ArtistDaniel first reached out to Operation Family freedom in July of 2020. Daniel and his wife live in Venezuela and had been married for a short time. Daniel and his wife were starting a family and wanted to further secure their ability...

Familia Gonzalez - Transportation Repair and Food to eat*Julio lives in Venezuela near the border of Colombia and is fortunate fortunate enough to have a job that allows him to repair appliances. Because of his job, he has to travel a lot from one location to another....

Familia G Rondon - $60 Emergency Relief Grant*Gabriel, contacted us in desperation. He explained that living in Venezuela is beyond challenging. He wanted to work, but did not have a job. Gabriel explained that his family does receive some help from government bonds,...

Familia Moreno – Computer to Fix ComputersHello, My name is David Moreno, I am 23 years old and I live in Anaco, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela. I found out through a facebook group about the great work that Operation Family Freedom is doing for many Venezuelan families....

Familia Mendoza - Cancer and a New SeamstressFamilia Mendoza lives in Anzoátegui, Venezuela, and she found Operaiton Family Freedom through its Facebook page. Familia Mendoza has been going through a critical situation as a family. Apart from the difficult situation...

Familia Ramona - Cheese and SausagesFamilia Ramona contacted Operation Family Freedom after she was forced to stop teaching due to COVID-19. Ramona is a 60 years old woman who lives with her 13-year-old daughter. Ramona lives in Venezuela and had very limited access...

Familia Manuel G - Cheese and MilkFamilia Manuel G found Operation Family Freedom through Facebook when he was searching for a way to help his family. Familia Manuel G fled from their home country of Venezuela and found that life in Colombia was also challenging...

Familia Delcarlin* - And The Chupi ChupiIt is insane to see the changes that have occurred over the past three months. The economic changes and devastation have been significant in the United States. The effects on an already devastated Venezuela are beyond...

Familia Antonio - Bugs and DroughtFamilia António survives in Venezuela from the small plot of land that they plant and harvest. Unfortunately, they are only able to plant and harvest during the rainy season because they don't have water on their land. Even under good...

UPDATE - 06/22/2020Familia Gutierrez Advocate: Slade Gurr (06/22/2020) ... see original post. ... see update #1. ... see update #2. Baby Gutierrez (David Steven Gutierrez) was born the first week of April and has been in the hospital ever since. He was initially...

Families in NeedDuring the chaos that ensued as the world started to close borders, Operation Family Freedom had several different families reach out for dire emergency help. They were all in a very bad way. Desperate for any kind of help, and extremely grateful for...

UPDATE - 03/19/2020Familia Gutierez Advocate: Slade Gurr (03/19/2020) ...see original post. Anna and I have been in contact with David several times over the past several weeks. Anna was able to get a better idea of what was going on with Davids wife, and some of the...

Familia SanchezI have been friends with Familia Sanchez on Facebook for several years. I do not recall working directly with the mother in the mission, but she has helped one of my other Venezuelan friends on several occasions. She reached out to me two weeks ago and...

Familia GutierrezAdvocate: Slade Gurr (02/20/2020)   In early January (2020), I received a message from a long time friend of mine, whom I have not heard from in quite a while. David and I were roommates when I was living in Venezuela as a missionary for the...

Familia HernandezADVOCATE: Slade Gurr (02/18/2020)   I have known Luis for many years. I first became acquainted with Luis in 2002 when he and I were serving as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Barcelona Venezuela Mission....

Familia GonzalezAdvocate: Slade Gurr 12/27/2019   Familia Gonzalez has been out of work for several months. He was able to immigrate to Argentina from Venezuela and was then able to get his family there, but was having a hard time financially as of late. This...

Familia CanoADVOCATE: Slade Gurr November 28, 2018 I reached out to Familia Cano (actually he is a single dad). He received his Visa to Chili and had been trying hard to get there before his deadline arrived. I knew the deadline was approaching and I wanted to see if...

Familia NarvaezADVOCATE: Slade Gurr October 20, 2019 Familia Narvaez - Familia Narvaez migrated from Venezuela to Peru last year. I know that he has had a hard time on several different levels. I know he has reached out to several former companions for assistance, and...

Familia RodriguezADVOCATE: Slade Gurr  September 19, 2019  At the first of August I reached out to a former companion after I came across some old mission videos (Familia Rodriguez). As we chatted back and forth he indicated that he had been able to survive the past...

Familia RondonADVOCATE: Slade Gurr September 9th, 2019 This last year has been a very big challenge for the people of Venezuela. My frustration over the countries inability to remove the dictator, Nicholas Maduro, from office has caused me to step back a little from...

Familia Zambrano ADVOCATE: Ana Yslas (written by Slade Gurr) September 4, 2018 I was contacted by a former sister missionary that I worked with when I was in Venezuela. She had heard of some of the families we had been able to help and had been having a difficult time...

Familia GomezADVOCATE: Slade Gurr (05/04/2018) May 4th, 2018 As a missionary, we focused on finding families that were truly interested in hearing the message we had. One day my companion and I found a family of four as we were knocking on doors. The mother, Diasy,...

Familia ChacinAdvocate: Slade Gurr January 7, 2018 Jose Chacin was a former companion of mine when I lived in Venezuela as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. The last communication I had with Jose was several weeks ago. At that time, I...

Familia TovarADVOCATE: Slade Gurr (12/23/17) December 23, 2018 If you have not yet watched this facebook review on Venezuela, please do so. If the link doesn't work it can be found on my facebook page. Several weeks ago I received a request from a friend, Omar Tovar,...

Familia Valencia -  ADVOCATE: Slade Gurr (12/21/2017) Alahin Valencia is a good friend of mine from Venezuela. When I was on my mission, he was one of my closest friends. We were together during some pretty insane times in the countries political upheaval. We saw and...