Our Story
“…the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”
~ The Family
A Proclamation to the World
Make a Donation
Join the Movement
In the Beginning
By Slade C. Gurr
This is not my story, It is one I would prefer to keep personal, but it belongs to the families involved, and for that reason I share it.
Operation Family Freedom was officially launched in January of 2020, but the heart and soul of the foundation began almost 20 years prior, back in July of 2001. With the death of my father, my best friend, Cecil F. Gurr. At the time of his sudden and violent death, I was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon being informed of his death, I returned home from my formal missionary training and started the process of burying my hero. One of the most caring and compasionate men I have ever known. My family and I were in utter shambles. We had lost the center of our family, and the pain reached far beyond anything we had experienced before. The two weeks that followed were a bit of a blur, but I was scheduled to fly to Venezuela for the following 23 months to fill the commitment I had made to God. It had been a long road to get to that point in my life, and I was determined to see it through. So, after doing all that I could do for my family, I briefly met up with the other missionaries, and I boarded the plane.
I will always remember the wheels touching down on Venezuelan soil. There was something special about it, and I felt it in my soul. As time passed, I tried to come to grips with my fathers’ death, but that challenge was compounded by my extreme culture shock and my inability to communicate effectively with the Venezuelan people. I felt lost, alone, and deeply saddened.
On September 11th, 2001, these feelings were amplified 1000 times as I struggled to understand the terrorist attacks on the United States. I think it was a low point for me, and it is at that time I had to put my faith in God. I needed to understand why things had happened the way they had. I needed to understand why God had directed me to that place, at that point in my life… He didn’t disappoint.
I was blessed with good companions and a mission president that was truly inspired. The focus of our day to day activities was locating families that were interested in hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each time we discovered a family, we introduced them to “The Family, A Proclamation to the World”. I saw time and time again the importance of family and all the principals proclaimed in “The Family”. I grew not only to love and appreciate my family more but also to value the family unit in society in general.
During my time living in Venezuela as a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, God sent many amazing families into my life. I had the privilege of interacting with 1000’s of families. Some were interested in the message we were sharing, others weren’t, but they all took a piece of me when I left them. I grew to love the land, the people, and the country.
Two years after my fathers’ death, I got off the plane in Salt Lake City, Utah, and returned to my family… I walked out of the airport, and I literally kissed the grass; not because it was something I hadn’t seen in 22 months (I hadn’t), but because I had gained a profound gratitude for all blessings in my life. On the top of my list was the freedom loving country that so many had fought and died for. Although I loved my time in Venezuela, it was hard, and it challenged me in every way imaginable. Never had I experienced more gratitude for what I had been blessed with than during the first few weeks back in the United States.
God has blessed me tremendously with a wonderful wife, amazing healthy kids, spectacular parents, siblings, extended family, a brilliant business partner, and amazing friends… All of whom are very supportive. I can never express that gratitude enough.
January 1st, 2012, I joined Facebook after many years of avoiding it. Facebook connected me with many of the Venezuelan families that I had not seen in years, but they still held a piece of me. Families and friends that helped pick me up when I had fallen so deep into despair. Families that I cared for and loved deeply were now reaching out to me because they were now in need of help.
When I lived in Venezuela, the crime rate and living conditions were far beyond anything that my North American family and friends could understand. However, in the ten years since I left Venezuela, things had only gotten worse and had digressed even beyond my comprehension. Crime, lack of food, water, gas, and the basics of life were staggering. I started looking for opportunities to help, and as the dregs of socialism consumed the country, those opportunities became more and more abundant, but also more and more challenging. After several years of trying to help on my own, I humbled myself and reached out to my friends and family here in the United States. They didn’t disappoint.
This is where the Family Stories began. It will be some time before they all get loaded onto the website, but I know the generosity of those who have donated have changed lives and helped bring families out of some of the worse circumstances imaginable, even if they are never all documented on the website.
Over the past year or two, I have had several discussions about creating this nonprofit. I am grateful for the encouragement, help, and dedication that the trustees, donors, families, and friends have all done to contribute. I wish to thank my wife and kids for encouragement, help, and understanding. My wife has had reason to be frustrated with me on many occasions, but she understands the effect it has on me to see people I care about in such a bad way.
Although the primary focus of Operation Family Freedom has been on families in Venezuela, that is not a limiting factor. We are excited to help families from all over the world when presented with opportunities and the resources to make a real difference.
If you have considered making a donation, we will graciously accept it on behalf of the families we work with. Up until the point that we had to file for the 501(c)(3), 100% of the donations had gone directly to recipient families. We will continue to strive to keep the direct donations high, and the overhead low. No one receives a paycheck for their work; it is all a labor of love.
Give Today
$5
$10
$50
$250
$500
Other