| This year also marked the close
of our second three-year term in Italy, and we traveled in the
United States sharing with various congregations about Confronti’s
work in interfaith dialogue. The real star of the show was our
colleague, Mostafa, who (with a grant from PC(USA)’s Interfaith
Listening Program) was able to join us and talk about his life
in Italy not only as a Muslim, but also as an asylum-seeker. Coincidently,
the war in Iraq began during our visit, and people were especially
interested in his perspective and that of Europe in general. It
made for some very lively discussions and a chance to impart the
focus of Confronti more compellingly.
Besides his work with Confronti Terry still loves to play basketball,
and has also found a new love that he originally thought would
simply be a mode of transportation! His Honda Transalp motorcycle
(600cc) is too large to get up the stairs and into the apartment
thankfully, so Michele has at least a little time away from this
obsession! All joking aside, we both have found great pleasure
in touring the Alps the last two summers, and are hoping to entice
friends to join us next summer!
Michele continues with school, and is happy to report that there
is light at the end of the tunnel! Graduation is only about a
year off—finally! At this age (and surely with fewer brain
cells with which to work) it seems to take longer for information
to stop bouncing off and find a place to settle!
Many of you know that Malia and Will were married on August 31,
2002, in what many in attendance termed a real fairytale day!
Photos of the wedding and their new life together can be seen
at www.maliaandwill.coolfreepages.com/.
We are very excited that they will be arriving in Rome on December
16 to stay for a year—Malia got her teaching certificate,
finished her masters program, and is ready for a change. How blessed
she is that her hubby is adventurous and willing to try international
life for a time! He leaves behind a successful career in computer
management.
One of the joys of an event like Will and Malia’s wedding
is being together with all those you love. We so greatly treasured
the time visiting with family and friends, eating wonderful meals,
watching sunsets on the beach, and even making a visit to Magic
Mountain to ride all the roller coasters, (not to mention the
wedding itself). But none of us had any idea that among us, there
was a tiny unknown visitor who was soon to forever change our
family and steal our hearts. No one was more surprised than his
parents, who had to take three pregnancy tests to believe the
truth! With great joy, Travis and Jaime welcomed their precious
baby son, Tristan Reed, on April 29. Most of the time people feel
concern about spoiling the baby, in this case, however, it’s
his parents who have been spoiled by a continuously happy, sweet-natured,
and easy baby! To get a look at the little guy, visit www.finseth.org.
(Oh, and his parents too!)
We also celebrate with Travis and Jaime, who recently graduated
with business management degrees (while working full time), and
now Travis has moved into the master’s program while Jaime
is kept busy being a great mom! They still have a vision for moving
overseas to work, and it seems the South Pacific is drawing their
hearts (while their parents hope they’ll come to Italy),
but we’ll see what God provides!
We pray that this Christmas season brings you deep contentment
and renewed hope for finding the lost, healing the broken, feeding
the hungry, releasing the prisoners, rebuilding the nations, and
most of all, resolving to live in peace—all with music in
your hearts!
Blessings,
Terry and Michele Finseth
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
328
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