"The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore."
----Psalm 121:8
During the years (1984-1987) they resided in Madagascar, Dr. Van and wife Margaret Joffrion were quite mobile, working at mission stations scattered across the island.
Spending time on the east coast in Vangaindrano, Dr. Van worked in the dispensary and taught general ophthalmology to doctors and nurses at the Norwegian mission station. From there, they traveled to Ankaramalazo where the river resembled the Bogue Chitto in Franklinton, according to Cousin Margaret.
There, not only were people coming in droves for eye screening and surgery in a makeshift operating room in a converted classroom, but they were coming to know the Lord. The Joffrions also journeyed to the western side of the island, to a Norwegian Leprosy mission station at Morondava where Dr. Van treated leprosy patients and taught ophthalmology to the local medical personnel.
But with the good came the bad. By early 1987, Madagascar was a place of civil unrest. From the hospital compound, the Joffrions witnessed looting and destruction and burning of property by the Malagasy. It was a cataclysmic time. Crowds congregated, shouting and running, even during the daytime. Then at night, the Joffrions heard explosions and gunfire. In addition to the violence, there was hunger exacerbated by the rising price of rice. The Joffrions were thankful for Dr. Van's Sunday School class - The Matthew Five Class - at Centenary Methodist Church in Franklinton. The class provided funds to feed the prisoners, who were starving to death in Antsirabe.
And the deadly disease of leprosy continued to plague the people. It was on a trip to India back in March of 1984 that Dr. Van and wife Margaret had been privileged to hear Mother Teresa speak. She reminded the crowd to not forget to have compassion for leprosy patients. It was an instruction that Cousin Margaret recorded and that she and Dr. Van heeded. The eye defects caused by leprosy were something he, a renowned ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, was trained to handle.
Once Dr. Van industriously worked himself out of a job - the natural expectation for missionaries - the Joffrions' time came to a close in Madagascar. He had mentored and trained an additional three doctors and three nurses to carry on the ophthalmology work, running the program, after his departure. As Dr. Van humbly explained to me, "The program was becoming self-sufficient. The trainees became trainers, and that's what you want."
Leaving Madagascar, their "island home", was bittersweet. The Joffrions had been enveloped by a host of friends, both physicians and missionaries during the duration of their humanitarian work. In addition to their kith and kin, the family had a wealth of experiences under their belt, some of which were challenging. They had endured treacherous boat rides in rough seas, dicey vehicle breakdowns in the wilderness, precarious travel on propeller planes, and transport in the back of trucks. Not only did luggage go missing but, when it was situated beneath shipments of fish aboard a plane, their suitcases were filled with black, oily water. As my mother used to say, Land sakes alive!
But the positive outweighed the negative in Madagascar. First and foremost, the Joffrions loved and cared about the people. And the surroundings were spectacular. The family appreciated the beauty of the native wildlife - lemurs, flying foxes, and even huge bats that Cousin Margaret likened to the monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz." They also enjoyed the native foods, including rice, coffee, and coconuts. And there were exciting excursions to the Island of Mauritius, Isle de la Reunion, and Isle St. Marie.
Yet, doors were opening back in the United States. Upon the family's return, Dr. Van took a position as Leprosy Consultant at Carville, Louisiana, at the United States Public Health Service Hospital, which is the only hospital for Leprosy - also known as Hansen's disease - in our country. There, he served as Chief of the Ophthalmology Department, Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center, from 1987 to 1989. Then, from 1989 to 2003 Dr. Van enjoyed a private practice in general ophthalmology in Zachary. He and wife Margaret lived in Baton Rouge for thirteen years, a glorious time for their family and friends. I have fond memories of visiting at their lovely home on Richland with my mother and my daughter. And though the couple later retired to the mountains of North Carolina, Dr. Van remained active with Christian Blind Mission International "CBMI," serving as Chairman of the American Board for ten years and travelling to Germany twice a year for the International Board meeting.
The Joffrions have been honored for their valuable service in Madagascar. In 2000, Dr. Van received the Order of Knighthood, which is the highest honor - Chevalier de l'Ordre National - awarded to a non-Malagasy for their work. Returning to Antsirabe for the grand ceremony, he was both honored and humbled in the presence of the hospital staff, those he had trained, and the missionaries. Then in 2003, he returned once again, with wife Margaret, to dedicate the newly established Eye Ward and Operating Room, donated by generous benefactor Ms. Lee Moran, at the Hopitaly Lotorana, Lutheran Hospital in Antsirabe. In honor of Dr. Van's ophthalmology work there, the new facility which CBMI added to the original hospital was designated "Pavilion Van Joffrion."
Dr. Van and wife Margaret have three children: William Kernan (Heidi Gay Scott), Susan Elizabeth (Jeffrey Allan Shane), and Winston (Nicole Brenda Steele). They have seven grandchildren: Laura Elise Joffrion and Joseph Scott Kernan Joffrion (William's); Elizabeth Anne Shane and David Austin Shane (Susan's); and Margaret Jane Joffrion, Mary Anna Joffrion, and Sarah Brand Joffrion (Winston's).
They continue to own Magee property which they tree farm in Washington Parish where we have wonderful, indelible memories of them. Like the old adage, though family grows in different directions, our roots remain as one.
