Gas station conversation leads to donation

Maynard Brubacher just wanted to get to the dump before it closed. The Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) crew leader had worked all day with other MDS volunteers, replacing a roof on a home in a rural community in Virginia, close to the border of West Virginia.

“We were under quite a bit of pressure working up until dark,” said Brubacher. “I had to leave to get to the landfill because it closed at 4 p.m.”

He had a 16,000-pound trailer fully loaded with debris—and thought he’d better put some gas in the truck, so he’d make it up the mountain to the landfill. “There was a man across from me, filling the tank of his old truck,” recalled Brubacher. “He noticed the MDS logo on my truck, and said, ‘Mennonite Disaster Service, what is that?

Since Brubacher has been an MDS volunteer for five decades, he knew how to answer.

“He was really interested,” said Brubacher, who described the house, the volunteers, and how MDS works.

The man, whose name was Mark, said, “That is just wonderful. Can I make a donation?”

Brubacher filled him in on how to donate, the two men parted ways, and Brubacher drove the heavy load up the mountainside—only to find the landfill had closed early.

“At first I thought, ‘I am not pulling this thing down the mountain,’” said Brubacher—and he thought about leaving the load at the gate to the landfill.

“But God said, ‘No, Maynard, don’t do that.’” So, he made the trip back and returned the next day.

A few days later, a donation to MDS from Mark for $2,000 arrived in the mail.

Brubacher wrote Mark a thank-you note. “I wrote, ‘When Mark and Maynard get to heaven, we will be waiting to hear God say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ but I’m saying to you, today, Mark: well done, good and faithful servant.”

Maynard Brubacher lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and attends Lindale Mennonite Church.