Haley Johnson taking part in mission trip to Africa

Haley Johnson, an eighth grader at Waukon Junior High and the 13-year-old daughter of Jason and Heather Johnson of Waukon, has been accepted by Global Expeditions to travel to Zambia, Africa as a missionary this summer. Global expeditions is a branch of Teen Mania Ministries based in Garden Valley, TX.
She attended one of Teen Mania’s “Acquire The Fire” youth conferences held in Des Moines in February. She was given the opportunity to attend a session to learn more about how young people can get involved in sharing their faith.  “The theme of the conference was 'Encounter His Love', and after hearing about all of the places in the world where children are suffering I decided that I would be willing to give up half of my summer vacation to share the love of Jesus with orphans in Africa. I hope to show these children that God hasn’t forgotten them," Haley explains. She will spend about a month, July 10-August 5, in Africa.
Zambia is a country in southern Africa that suffers from one of the world's largest HIV and AIDS epidemics. The country is slightly larger than Texas with a population of about 11 million. Approximately one in seven adults is infected with the HIV virus. There are nearly 100,000 orphans in this small country alone. Many of these orphans are infected themselves.
Haley will be working with these children in a small villages near the capital city of Lusaka. Her team will lead “HOPE” camps, similar to local vacation bible schools. They will also be building and repairing homes. They will be traveling to different villages and sleeping in tents along the way. Global Expeditions has partnered with Every Orphans Hope for this trip, the latter has been in this area for about ten years and will help them to navigate through the region as well as provide security for her group.
Haley has been selling t-shirts and bracelets, as well as holding other fundraisers, to raise the $5,000 needed for her trip. Anyone wishing to support Haley may donate to her missionary account online at www.globalexpeditions.com. Click donate, then search for her name by using her ID# 2603257; or mail donations to 1039 Old Stage Road, Waukon, IA 52172.
Any donations beyond her expenses will be donated to the orphans.