Fast and Pray

A dear friend and brother Baltazar Rizzo here in Logan Utah, yesterday had a seizure , lost consciousness and quit breathing for an unknown amount of time. He was life flighted to the hospital in Ogden Ut. and things are not looking good. He is married with four children. Please lift him up and please make this a priority, he is a dear friend of my family.

Trusting Him; Alan

Yes brother, I will be praying.

Keep us posted.

Greetings
I will pray for your friend and his family.

God Bless
MJ

I won't share a lot of detail on Baltazar since even the different doctors treating him are not in total agreement. The last doctor that saw him or spoke with Heather was much more optimistic than the previous one that reported to her earlier this morning. The challenge at this point is to get a reflex response from Balto so they can tell there is not long term neurological damage from him being without oxygen for awhile. This was apparently due to the heart valve and flow of blood to the brain and lungs more so than just his breathing. The doctors have been working with Balto to get that response and say it may still be too early to tell and may take 3-4 more days.

Of course we know there is no challenge too difficult for the Lord and we wait on Him for His timing to revive Balto. Heather is doing well standing in faith and close by his side as are the children. His extended family at MBC and other places are in continuous prayer for Baltazar and his family as they are much loved.

My wife and I are praying, brother.

Thank you all for praying, please continue.

I can sure say that Heather and family feel the loving prayers that are going up to our Lord for them and I think that includes Baltazar,. There was some great encouragement this morning as doctors backed off some of Balto's medication he opened his eyes and had quite a bit of movement. The movement according to the doctors report was less of a posturing movement, which is a good sign. It's still not what they are ultimately looking for, which is more reflexive movement but it's in the right direction. This response could be several more days in coming. At least the doctor said they would not take a negative view until 10-14 days of not seeing it. This means patience and waiting on the Lord for all of us and especially Heather and the children. They continue to do well in the Lord's strength and the pouring out of love from many of you.

Not to get overly medical but I know some of you are still wondering about the heart condition. Technically Balto didn't have a heart attack but the doctor today said it was in fact, cardiac arrest that he experienced. What is termed ventricular fibrillation or in plain terms his heart was quivering instead of properly pumping for awhile. They don't know how long but it was the CPR that Ed and Heather gave along with the electra-paddles that brought him out of that, praise God.

Another significant prayer concern is now Balto's lungs and the aspiration that took place. He is on antibiotics and now running a temperature of around 102 once they stopped cooling his body. In your prayers be sure and thank God for what he has already delivered Balto from while trusting that He will continue to revive him as we wait for this answer to our prayers.

One more thought. As friends from work and other acquaintances of Balto have dropped by the hospital and contacted Heather they have freely commented on how well he has always treated others. I think we all would like to have that type of testimony in our life

Dear Alan I am a Baltazar Rizzo's School mate from Venezuela, now I am living in UK. WE, all his classmates from Nostra Signora di Pompei School (Caracas) are praying for him and for his family, they need all our support. Our prayers are focusing on his prompt recovering.
Please keep us informed about his progress.
God bless you!
If you have some contact with Rizzo's family give them a big hug from us.
Regards
Gioconda Mancusi
Promocion 77 Pomepi

Our God is able to work it out for His Glory.
May He draw this Family unto Himself.
God Bless
Nellie

I just spoke with Mike, and without alot of details at this point. He told me that Balto is being sent to another hospital to perfrom heart surgery as he has a hole in his heart that needs repairing. Please pray for him and his wife Heather, his 3 daughters Rosa, Erica, and Rebecca as well as his son Tomas. Thank you.

Continuing in prayer, brother. Please keep us updated.

Update: Maranatha community and others;

Some things have changed medically with Baltazar and not so much for the worse. Part of the condition that may have caused the cardiac arrest with Balto was a heart valve problem he has known about and been treated for in the past. Last night they moved Balto to IMC hospital in Murray. This is a high level hospital as I understand it with excellent surgical care. The doctors have decided in order to get his condition well stablized they need to do a procedure to close a hole in his heart related to this valve problem. As I understand it this will not be open heart surgery but cardiac catheterization where they enter the femoral artery and go into the heart from there. This will likely take place in a couple of days from now. Some good news in the process they have been able to get his temperature down.

Besides the continued prayer for Balto's heart procedure this will require a move for Heather and some of the children. I believe Heather said that Thomas and Rebecca will come back to Logan for school, while staying with a family but Erica and Rosa along with Heather will need a place to stay in Murray. I have tried to contact church family in that area to see about a family they would stay with close by but in the meantime they will likely be at a close by motel. This and other expenses, as you can only imagine, build up quickly. Many have already started putting funds together to take care of some needs for the Rizzo family. I wanted to let you know you can do that through a fund for the Rizzos at Maranatha. You can make the check or contribution to MBC and mark it Rizzos. We will be getting those funds to Heather immediately. This is likely to be a fairly drawn out time for the Rizzos so we will be continuing this as the Lord leads.

On my knees beside you,
Mike

We are having a prayer meeting in about an hour and will join in prayer for him.

Clint

Praise be to God!! Heather called and said that Balto is responding to questions. He nodded yes when asked if he knew where he was and who she is. He is not out of the woods yet, he still must go for heart surgery Thursday or Friday and we must pray for that and also that there will be no long term effects to his brain. May God alone receive the glory!!!

Thank you for the update, brother. I have passed this prayer need to my family and friends. We are praying!

Brothers and Sisters,

Concerning Baltazar, As the doctors continued to work with regulating his medication he woke up and was very responsive as we have been praying. He recognized Heather and even told her he was chilly. Praise God he feels that and can say so. He is still a bit confused as you would normally expect and for that reason Heather wants to wait awhile until he has many visitors.

Other good news is that his temperature is still back to normal. However we do need to continue to pray that he is able to expell the fluid from his lungs and the onset of any pneumonia doesn't occur. Heather said they are not going to do the repair of the heart valve at this time although a more comprehensive surgery (probably open-heart) will be necessary once he's up to it. He is still in the IMC hospital and I believe he will stay there for some days.

In addition to praying for the Rizzo's time ahead be sure and spend as much time thanking God for his tender mercies up to this time.

Rejoicing with you,
pastor Mike