GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- When a county worker knocked on Abraham Joshua's front door Tuesday morning, he only expected notice that maintenance on a clogged culvert was complete.

So, the 70-year-old Grand Rapids resident shuffled over, still dressed in pajamas.

"It was still early," Joshua laughed.

The news - that a crew from the Kent County Road Commission had found a cherished ring missing for about 20 years - was an awakening.

"The man goes, 'Does this belong to you?'" Joshua said.

The ring, even after a couple decades buried in dirt, still shined and a cut out of a cross was still visible. It served as a reminder of Joshua's landing in the United States in 1981.

Joshua emigrated from Pakistan to the U.S. after he said it became increasingly difficult to live as a Christian in a society that viewed non-Muslims and other religious groups with disfavor.

Joshua, who worked for the Pakistani government, said coworkers told him he couldn't hold positions that would allow him to create policy.

With no apparent future in the country, Joshua flew to Chicago and eventually made his way to West Michigan, where his sister and her husband already lived.

Joshua befriended an owner of an Indian jewelry shop in Chicago some time later and asked him if he could personalize the ring to signify his faith.

"Having brown skin ... people automatically think you're different and wonder if you're Muslim or Sikh," Joshua said. "I'm a Christian, and the ring says that without me saying it."

Road commission workers made the find as they were clearing a drainage pipe beneath the man's driveway that had silted up through the years. Heavy equipment scooped up the dirt and sediment - several digs on either side of the driveway - and dumped it in an adjacent truck.

Joshua said sometime during the late 1980s or early 1990s, he was working in his front yard and realized the gold ring no longer was on his finger. He searched the lawn for about two weeks after, on his knees even.

"Back when I was young enough," Joshua joked, saying he gave up on the likelihood he would find the keepsake.

Michael Raisch, Tom VenHuizen and Donny Clifford spent time at Joshua's home some 20 years later, performing the work Tuesday morning.

"I was running the excavator and we were doing our regular ditching process ... when we're done, we kind of smooth things out with a rake," Raisch said. "Tom was raking when he spotted the ring and yelled, 'Hey, what's this?'

"Just by chance, we found it."

Joshua couldn't believe it, likening the door knock and its outcome to a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes winner.

He was so appreciative, he offered to get the men lunch. When they turned it down, Joshua said he'd buy them gift cards for dinner with their families. The crew politely declined again. Jerry Byrne, the road commission's maintenance director, said it's general policy that crews do not accept gifts of monetary value.

"Thanks is just enough," Raisch said. "That's all we ever want, and most of the time, when people call, we get complaints."

Joshua promises to keep a watchful eye on the ring and maybe take it off his finger while working in the yard this spring.

After examining the culvert work Tuesday afternoon, he walked to the mailbox and emptied its contents.

Among the mail - an envelope from Publishers Clearing House.

Andrew Krietz covers breaking, politics and transportation news for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at akrietz@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.