With This Ring - Radical Givers

WTR Champions

Meet one of our WTR Champions, Maggie!

The Missing Ring - A Husbands Gift - Crazy Faith - Restoration - A Clear Choice - Football Champion - Special Memories - My Diamond - A Gift in Progress - The Bracelet - My Best Gift - Living the Good Life - A snowy Christmas Eve - Three Wedding Rings

Friday night I was at my computer and I took my wedding rings off and left them on my desk. I wear my set and engagement rings together. I got up to pray with the kids and when I came back, one of my rings was gone. In the morning I asked my two older kids if they had seen my ring. My son answered, "Yes." Before he went to bed he went to the bathroom and saw the rings and put one on and then went to bed. In the morning he took the ring off when he got into the shower. So I asked him to bring me the ring and explained to him the value and significant meaning. I told him that my wedding rings reminded me of the vow I'd made to God and my husband and that I valued my rings because they were a gift from Papi, and not to touch them.

That same night I went to Saturday Service at Church and it so happened that Ali the Director of "With this Ring" gave her testimony and shared how this organization was digging wells in Africa so the people can have clean water, and how she sold her ring to make that happen. At that moment God told me "You value this ring, but how much more do I value my children?" So after church I picked up my children and realized how blessed we are and I decided to give my engagement ring to "With this Ring." Looking back, I know it was God's will for these events to happen in the order they did and I'm blessed to know how much He loves us because we're all His children. Praise God!

In His Service,

Rubi
Calvary Chapel Oceanside

On Sunday, July 12, 2009 someone from With This Ring spoke at our church in Huntington Beach California.

She told us about With This Ring and how it would help get water to the suffering people in Africa. I was very impressed with the idea.

My husband passed away two years ago and I know my wedding ring is not very expensive. It was purchased before World War II. Since we were married for 60 years I really didn't want to part with it.

I did however have a necklace that he purchased for me sometime during those early years when we were both working. I don't know how much he paid for it, but I believe it's more valuable than my ring.

I have only worn the necklace once. I wanted to help the "Water project."

I believe God wants us to share what we have and help those less fortunate by giving a cup of water in His name.

I hope this piece of jewelry will benefit the African people.

Sincerely in Christ,

Mary Anne
Huntington Beach Ca.

Last year my husband lost his job and we ended up in a deep financial situation. We couldn't pay our bills. Still, the Lord provided. Soon after, I lost my job and became a stay at home mom. This is a blessing, since I can now take care of our two boys, ages 4 and 1.

My husband got odd jobs but not enough to pay our bills. Then his work truck broke down. It was then that my husband said God told him to give 20% of his earnings for missions and 10% to the church. I thought, "He's crazy!" I didn’t believe in giving 10% to the church, let alone 20%. We were almost homelessness and he wanted to give more.

Then I heard about an organization that digs wells in Ghana because the people drink muddy water. The story broke my heart and God began to soften it. I'm blessed to go the store and buy clean water for my family. So my husband and I agreed to give 20% of our income to With This Ring

Eventually, our situation became worse. I wanted to sell my wedding ring and buy a new truck for my husband. Still, God didn't allow it to sell.

Then God instructed me to give the ring to With This Ring. At first I resisted but I obeyed God. It was the most liberating thing I've ever done. It's such a blessing to give God what's rightfully His.

I praise God for abundant blessings! Jesus meets our needs daily and we give Glory to Him!

Serving the Most High

Ana

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

I was engaged to a man that was very abusive and I stayed with him for 4 years. One week before the wedding, I called it off. I just knew that I couldn't marry someone that treated me like that.

While I was with him, my self worth was crumbled to the ground. We stayed together for another year after the engagement was broken.

During that year, there was a tragedy in my family. This man I loved refused to be there for me. Luckily had God with me and shortly after that time, we split up. I realized that I couldn't be with someone I couldn't count on. He took the rings but eventually gave them back to me.

I have been holding onto them for 5 years. They were a constant reminder of him. When I looked at this website, I was intrigued by this organization and immediately felt that God let me keep the rings for this moment.

Through my church, God has given me the strength to fully let go of my past and move toward my future. I continue to pray everyday as God fills my life with His Glory. I know that as long as Jesus is in my heart I'll be ready for whatever challenges He has in store for me.

WTR has touched me in more ways than one. I'm grateful I've been a part of this wonderful charity that brings hope and joy to those that are truly in need of rescuing, both spiritually and physically. I look forward to following up on the wonderful things that WITH THIS RING brings.

"What is impossible from a human perspective is possible with God." Luke 18:27

Grace and Peace in Christ,

Amy
Altamonte Springs, Florida

The first time I heard about your ministry I thought "what a great idea", but immediately thought, "Well, you're not getting my wedding ring!"

Then God began working on my heart, and I realized that I had a valuable wedding ring from a previous marriage just sitting in a fire safe.

The ring was from my boys' father. It was a tumultuous marriage, even before we were married.

I got engaged again and my future husband encouraged me to get rid of the things other men from my past had given me.

At first it seemed like a controlling thing to do. I was also wrestling with the words of Jesus in Mark 10:21 "Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me"

I reluctantly gave most of my past treasures away or I sold them. I felt like I needed to choose between my material things and a man I believed God had sent to me.

Finally, I visited the website. There on the first page was Mark 10:21 again. Only this time, I didn't wrestle with a choice. A feeling of unexplainable joy came over me, even tears, to think I could be used by God to take the ashes of my past with this ring, and turn it into something beautiful: clean, clear, life-saving water for a whole village of people!

Thank you for what you are doing. It is truly a blessing to be a part of.

God bless you and your ministry.

Blessings,

Joanie
Huntington Beach, Ca.

I first heard about your organization from another organization's website; the Advent Conspiracy. Over the past year or so, the Lord has been working on my heart and giving, of my time and money. I have felt the need to do more, to think of others more than myself, to spend less money on me and my kingdom and more on His.

After reading some books, like "Un-Christian" and "How Then Shall We Live", I ended up learning a little bit about the worlds' lack of fresh water crisis. I heard a wise Christian theologian say that we tend to be "near-sighted". In this society, we are so focused on me, me, me. We are such a consumer-goods driven society, and we think that every place is like this. But when I look at other countries, look at the number of people, the millions of women and children that are "without", I begin to feel like God must feel. I began to pray, "Lord, let me weep for what makes you weep and be angry about what angers you. Give me Spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear".

When I read about how one person could have a heart to be such a radical giver, and thought about how much I could do for God's kingdom if I just acted, I had to get involved. I clicked on "the Guys" page and thought about how I could help. I decided to donate my college football NAIA National Championship ring. I thought about how much more a little money from that ring good do to help save people's lives by digging fresh water wells, than it ever did for me or would ever do for my son when I hand it down to him. I can now share the story of God's love and provision instead of a story about football that glorifies me.

Keep up the good work. You are an inspiration. May God's blessing be on your life.

Sincerely,

Barry Caylor
Atlanta

I was sixteen years old and fell in love for the first time. We had been dating for about a year when he gave me my first REAL piece of jewelry…a promise ring to declare his love for me in the hopes of marriage for the future. Of course, as many young relationships go, we ended up not staying together.

I held on to this promise ring to preserve the special memories that we had together and to reminisce once in a while. As the years went by I would come across it, take it out, and put it on then ooh and ah over it.

Well, as to my surprise, eight years later I’m going to Africa and involved in the non-profit organization, With This Ring. After seeing the devastation a world away, God convicted me. Here I am young and single with not a whole lot to my name (according to our society) yet I have SO much more than the people in Africa who are dying from lack of clean drinking water. I new I could and had to do something. That’s when I new I had to give up my ring. It was time to let go and save lives.

Since Africa and working with With This Ring, God has called me to start living a simpler life so I can continue to do His work. This has not been easy for me since I have always had a very abundant life. Through this continued transformation God has changed my heart. I realized that I didn’t need the ring to keep my memories alive.

My ring is just one small contribution among many, but together we are changing lives for the better and reaching the lost for Christ.

I was listening to Ali’s audio testimony where she described the events that led her to give away her wedding ring. I thought to myself, “Good for her, but I would never do that.

Then I heard her talk about all the people in the world dying due to a lack of clean drinking water, something we take for granted every day. She explained how the diamonds on our fingers could amount to saving a human life.

My wedding ring or the diamond in it could help give people around the world clean water. I looked down at my 2nd wedding ring (I lost my first one) and Movado watch. My hand was worth about $8,000. I thought that if there were wealthy people in the world and my children were sick, I would need them to help us. So I decided right there as I wept over my selfishness that I could help too. We’ve all asked, “What can I do?” I found the answer on my own hand. Radical giving helped change their lives, but it also changed mine.

I later found and donated my 1st wedding ring as well.

After removing the diamond, my husband replaced it with a fake diamond and I wear it proudly. Never once has anyone noticed it was fake. In fact I purposely tell people it is fake to share the message. We spend so much on these little rocks, yet there are so many people in need. The bigger the diamond, the more he loves me? This SUV driving girl is not buying into it anymore. Nobody will remember me for the jewels I possess when I die. I did something radical and it feels amazing. The lesson I learned? My stuff doesn’t define me. My love for Jesus does.

Growing up, I was taught the importance of giving back to God what He has blessed us with. When I first bought my car 4 years ago, I prayed and asked God to use it for His glory. Whether that meant giving people rides, helping people move, or just being a good steward with what He had given me, I wanted to glorify Him with my little car. One year ago, as I contemplated my future of getting married and moving to another state, God put it on my heart to donate my car. Soon after, while attending class at Biola University, I learned of “With This Ring” ministries and realized my car was approximately the price of one well in Africa. I began to pray and see if this was truly where God wanted my car to go. It seemed to fit, but I wanted to seek His guidance and give my car where He wanted to use it. After seeking wise counsel and feeling God’s peace about the decision, I began the process of figuring out how to donate. I learned that the best way to give my car to “With This Ring” is to sell it. This is where others can become involved in spreading the Gospel of Christ. If anyone is interested in partnering with me by buying my car, together we can glorify God by helping bring the good news of the gospel to people who desperately need to hear it.

Recently, I donated a gold nugget bracelet that belonged to my only brother. He died of cancer 13 years ago and is with the Lord. A baseball hat I gave him was given back to me. It read “Jesus, All His ways, All my days”. He wore it after loosing his hair during cancer treatments. Our dad asked to borrow it once to wear while golfing. When he returned it, he seemed so sad; I gave it to him for Christmas that year. It was all I had of my brother’s, but Dad needed it more.

As for the bracelet - It traveled from owner to owner for years. Originally, my parents gave it to my brother Jeff as a gift. Soon after, our grandmother mentioned to Jeff that she admired it. Without thinking, Jeff took it off and put it on her wrist. She was overwhelmed with his gift. After she passed, the bracelet was given back to our parents. They in turn gave it to me, as I was close to Grandma and Jeff. It had passed through the hands of people I dearly loved and now it was mine. It was the only item of Jeff’s I had since giving away his hat.

After hearing about With This Ring, I knew I must give up the bracelet. I wanted to honor my parents by asking permission to donate it, since it had been their gift to their only son. Their response was, “Jeff always helped others and if his bracelet would do that, he certainly would want it donated.” Permission was granted and I joyfully gave it away, as I hope other individuals will in the future to save the lives of many in Africa bringing clean water and hope for a better life.

One day, I was listening to WGNR, and I heard about a woman, named Ali, who had donated her diamond ring to help dig for water wells in the country of Africa. This gave me the idea that I too could help people who needed clean water.

Many years ago, my fiancée had given me a beautiful diamond ring. We married and then he was killed in a tragic plane accident nine years later. Four years later, I remarried and the ring was never worn again. My second husband died twenty years later.

I knew that I would never have this diamond reset, and the thought of little children having clean water to drink became a very important thought.

At a prayer meeting, the pastor blessed the diamond, and I set out to release the ring for the work that it was called to do. I may never know who the benefactors may be, but, more than the physical water, if, the people who receive the water are cleansed and made whole with the Living Water, it will have made the sacrifice worthwhile.

The joy of having a gift that I could donate to children and their parents to help restore health and healing is a blessing.

Okay, so I’m your typical privileged Orange County housewife. I have nice things and I really, really like nice things.

Sitting at the “With This Ring” banquet, barely listening to all the testimonies, I kept thinking about my wedding ring. That night, for some reason, I had forgotten to put on any of my other jewelry other than my wedding ring. I somehow knew I was going to give it up that night. At the end of the banquet, I whispered to my husband, “I’m thinking about giving up my ring. What do you think?”. He replied, “that’s a great idea.” With that, it was done.

I did drive home that night with a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I was not able to sleep all night thinking about what I had just done. I woke up at 5am sobbing and grieving over my ring. I felt silly. It wasn’t just a ring…it was a very nice, beautiful ring. A ring I had carefully designed and upgraded over the past 15 years. This was a symbol of our marriage and a future heirloom piece to hand down to our girls. The sentimental value was huge. But to be able to provide clean water to a village for generations to come is priceless.

I’ve always said to myself that I didn’t want to be ordinary. Yet here I am the most ordinary housewife in Orange County, and I have done the extraordinary. It’s the most radical thing I’ve ever done, and I feel elated that when God spoke, I heard and obeyed. Now, I am a little scared because God might ask me to do something else, something out of my comfort zone. But I’m ready. I’ve been ready for a long time.

One day, driving home from work I heard Ali speaking on the radio about With This Ring. I turned the sound up. God immediately impressed on my heart that there is something tangible that I could do in His name.

Mothers and Children in another country desperately needed clean water. I could never go there, but I could do something. I am a pastor’s wife, and my engagement ring is about the only thing I had that was valuable enough to help out and, it was just sitting in my jewelry box not serving any real purpose.

I kept thinking, that isn’t right… people could have clean water to drink if I just gave up “holding on” to a ring that I hardly wore. It was meaningful and precious to me because my husband gave it to me long ago on a snowy Christmas Eve in 1959, but did that mean I needed to just keep it just for the warm thoughts and memories? I will always have those. Over the next couple of weeks I thought about it over and over… I knew God wanted me to do this. To give something that doesn’t mean anything… would cheapen the gift… and there was no question as to what was the more important… the ring or the clean drinking water.

My ring was not costly compared to most, but given in Jesus’ name; I know He will bless it to the folks who need it in a far away land… that I will never see. That thrills my heart!!! Thanks for the opportunity, Ali!

Sorry it took so long to write back. I shall pray every time I see my ringless finger for the wells to keep being dug. My testimony is simple. My fingers were ring-heavy.

I was given my Mother-in-laws ring when she passed away. I wore it on my right hand. My own dear father died nine years ago. My mother delightfully remarried to a dear, lovely man, and she gave me her first wedding ring from my father. I stacked that one in front of my own wedding band, and there you go, three wedding rings – one girl. Then I heard your story on Moody Radio in Chicago. It was a no-brainer. People need water.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and letting me be a part of the ministry! You are a blessing. God bless. Spread the Word – Let the water flow!

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