"The idea is to walk with them, tell them you are not alone. We honor your struggle. We’re here to listen and learn and be with you. Along that route we have all these struggling families who are sponsored by the Christian Foundation," says Hentzen. "What we’re finding, however, is that there is so many others out there. This is why we decided that we really want to find sponsors for 8,000 kids as a result of these 8,000 miles. That is our campaign."

On an average day, he says, he’s accompanied by a crowd of about 50. Some are CFCA staff, dozens of others are enthusiastic international volunteers and people from the local communities.

"At one point we had nine different nationalities. We had Peter from Nairobi, Kenya. We had Uganda represented. We had Honduras, Guatemala, the (United) States and the Dominican Republic. It’s very exciting because in the different countries, when they hear about us and see this is an international trek and it’s coming through our country, they really respond beautifully. They say, ‘Oh, we’ll get you police protection. We’ll take care of you on the road.’ They are very kind and concerned that they really want to do a good job and they really have done (that) along the way."

Walking side by side with the locals, he says, offers a unique opportunity to listen to the stories of their struggle against poverty.

"They are hopeful stories, they are not sad stories. I’ve seen areas in Guatemala, for example, where we used to have to truck in food, they are now producing food and selling it. We have doctors, we have accountants, social workers walking with us who have grown up as sponsored children, got their education. Some of them then come to work with us as social workers."