College bride swaps diamond ring for fake to help drill wells in Africa

|PIC1|Instead, she wanted a ring with an unusual story. The ring she and her fiancé bought was the very ring that started With This Ring, an Orange County-based nonprofit promoting radical giving to provide clean water for African villages.

The ring originally belonged to Ali Eastburn, who founded With This Ring by donating the diamond from the ring to drill a well in Africa. She replaced the diamond with a cubic zirconia, but recently decided to donate that ring too - cubic Zirconia and all -and sold it at a recent online charity auction. Lindsay and her fiancé were the buyers.

Lindsay is excited to show off the ring and is even more excited to tell people the story behind it. She shares that having the ring will provide an opportunity to tell the story of With This Ring - people giving radical gifts to do something big.

She and her fiancé are committed to radical generosity. "I didn't want to have a diamond. My fiancé and I don't feel you have to have a diamond. It's not what's important and it's not where our heart is.

"We want to live more the simple life and spend our money on things that advance the Kingdom of God."

Lindsay is a senior at Cal State Fullerton with a business major. She plans to take over her family's business when she graduates.

Eastburn is happy to see how her own radical gift is living on in Lindsay's life. She said, "I was so excited when I got that ring. I was mistakenly proud because I thought it showed how much I was loved.

"Lindsay is excited about that same ring because when she tells people it's fake and shares her story, they will see the love of Jesus moving her to change the status quo by doing the very opposite of what most brides do.

"What started out as pride for me turned into transformation for Lindsay because she chose to begin her marriage with an act of radical generosity."

With This Ring was founded two years ago by Ali Eastburn. Since then, she says she's seen an astonishing wave of generosity.

"Men and women are truly changing the world through acts of radical giving," she said.

So far, the charity has provided clean water to over 20,000 people in Africa, helping villages to eliminate many of the illnesses and problems caused by a lack of clean drinking water.