MK Gantt Ministries

Guest Contributor, Fr. Leo Benjamin of the Church of the Crucified One in Moretown, Vermont.

The Silent Spark of our region’s Awakening

By Pastor Leo Benjamin, MyFaithNews  

I was privileged to interview Apostle Michael Kimuli from Uganda for MyFaithNews on our FaithFire Podcast, and what I learned was truly enlightening. His story highlighted how revival begins long before it becomes visible, and how the formation of Christ within a people is the true catalyst for transformation.

Michael shared a detail about Uganda that I want to share here:
They did not learn prayer from books or seminaries.
They learned prayer in the forests, when churches were burned, when believers hid for their lives, and when all they had left was the presence of God.

In that hidden place, they learned the prayer Paul describes:

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you…” Galatians 4:19

Uganda discovered that revival is pregnancy.

That prayer is labor.

That hearts must become altars before nations can be changed.

Revival Begins in Silence, Not Crowds

I believe what God is speaking into to our region, and how Vermont and New England can apply these truths today.

One of the most important truths for New England is this:

Revival starts in quiet places before it ever reaches public places.

• It begins in silence.
• It begins when the noise of the world fades.
• It begins when the soul becomes attentive again.

The Holy Spirit conceives His work long before anyone sees the fruit of it.

Revival is conceived in silence and birthed in a people who reveal the image of Christ to the world.

Before anything changes around us, something must change within us.

Rediscovering the Inner Altar

Every true awakening begins with the heart.
Not with programs.
Not with events.
Not with louder activities.

What Uganda learned in the forests, we must learn in our sanctuaries, our homes, our cars, and the quiet corners of our day:

Prayer must rise from the inner altar.

There is a significant difference between performing prayer and carrying prayer.

• Performing prayer is effort.
• Carrying prayer is fidelity.
• Performing prayer tries to persuade God.
• Carrying prayer waits until Christ is formed within.

The inner altar is where revival begins.
The inner altar is where God plants His work.
The inner altar is where awakening grows.

When hearts become altars, regions begin to shift.

Stepping Into the Tension of the Inner Altar

There is a sacred tension that every believer must learn to face—the tension between heaven and earth, fear and faith, spirit and flesh. This tension is not a sign of weakness; it is the sign of formation.

Tension is where the inner altar is built.

Revival is not born in comfort.
It is born in the pull between what we feel and what God has spoken.

• When faith rises while fear whispers…
• When the Spirit urges while the flesh resists…
• When the promise is real but the ground seems barren…

These are the very places where Christ is formed.

Tension is holy ground.
Tension is the birthplace of transformation.
Tension is where prayer becomes real and revival begins to take shape.

When we stop resisting the tension and start embracing it, the inner life becomes the place where awakening breaks forth.

Vermont’s Calling Is to Carry Revival, Not Perform It

For decades, believers across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Upstate New York have prayed faithfully. Many have prayed through discouragement, long winters, and seemingly little visible fruit. But spiritual seasons often resemble pregnancy more than harvest.

Just because we have not seen movement does not mean God has not conceived something.

Vermont’s calling in this hour is not to shout louder or strive harder, it is to carry what God has entrusted.

• Carriers wait on the Lord.
• Carriers hold the promise until term.
• Carriers remain faithful when nothing seems to move.
• Carriers focus on Christ being formed within them.

When revival comes, it will come through people who carry Jesus, not people who perform religion.

Unity Will Be the Womb of Awakening

As revival takes root in New England, unity is essential.
Not uniformity, but unity of heart and purpose.

Unity is the womb of revival.

It is the atmosphere where God breathes.
It is the place where spiritual conception becomes spiritual formation.
It is the soil in which awakening grows.

Doctrines may differ, worship styles may vary, but if Christ is being formed in us, we share the same heartbeat. Revival cannot thrive where division rules; it flourishes where believers gather around Jesus Himself.

Re-Digging the Wells of Our Region

Our region carries deep spiritual history, wells of holiness, devotion, simplicity, and awakening.
Some of the earliest spiritual movements in America were birthed in New England soil.

Those wells are still here.
But some have been filled with discouragement, busyness, cultural pressure, or spiritual fatigue.

Just as Isaac re-dug the wells of his father Abraham (Genesis 26),
God is calling us to uncover the wells of faith that once flowed in New England.

We are not starting from scratch.
We are uncovering what God already planted.

Fidelity to Jesus Is Our Strength for What Comes Next

One revelation settled deeply into my spirit:

Awakening comes through fidelity, not effort.

It is not how hard we push but how deeply we surrender.

• Fidelity in the secret place
• Fidelity when no one sees
• Fidelity when answers delay
• Fidelity when hope feels thin

A region is transformed by men and women who allow Christ to be formed in them—until His image becomes visible to the world around them.

This is the revival God is preparing for Vermont and our region.

Vermont, It’s Time to Carry What God Has Conceived

I believe that God has planted something very special in Vermont and New England.
It is alive.
It is forming.
It is moving quietly beneath the surface.

We are not waiting for revival—
Revival is waiting for us.