Healing the sick or preying on the vulnerable? US faith healer performs in NZ

Ahead of Kathryn Krick's 'Revival' session in Auckland, Mava Moayyed speaks to the self-appointed apostle, to a concerned medical expert, and to the mother of a sick child with high expectations of the event.

Kathryn Krick’s global following is built on a viral promise: instant divine healing via social media.

US faith healer asked tough questions ahead of NZ appearance - Watch on TVNZ+

To her millions of followers on TikTok and YouTube, she is the "Apostle"; a vessel for God capable of casting out demons and healing everything from depression to terminal cancer.

To her critics, she is a failed actor from Los Angeles who has used social media algorithms to build a multi-million-dollar business.

One Kiwi medical expert says it’s “bullshit” for any faith healer to claim they can cure illnesses such as HIV or late-stage breast cancer.

Krick is the leader of the Five-Fold Church (5F Church), based in Los Angeles, California. Her website advocates "the love of Christ and His desire for believers to walk in constant victory". Tonight, her global 'Revival' tour reaches Auckland. It's a free event where Krick’s followers – such as Auckland mum Vivianne – expect to experience miracles.

Vivianne discovered Krick’s YouTube channel in 2021, drawn to the preacher’s "deliverance" sessions and relatable style.

"She was just so organic. I was like, 'Wow. This is so me.'"

Krick teaches that God’s power isn’t limited by technology so miracles can happen through the screen. After watching Krick’s videos, Vivianne says she was cured of obsessive-compulsive disorder she’d had since a child.

But what she was really seeking was healing for her son.

Her eldest of four children has suffered from seizures since he was a baby. Under the care of neurologists, her son has been administered 15 different medications without success, she says.

"We had tried everything medically... I was like, I need to go to God," says Vivianne.

Influenced by Krick’s teachings, she believes her son’s seizures are the result of "demonic oppression” that can be healed by God through Krick.

Three years ago, Vivianne made a decision with significant medical risks. “I was desperate for my son, desperate. To take my son off medication... that was scary," she admits. "But then going, 'Oh, God’s got a better plan.'"

Now, her son is “so different”, she says. He no longer takes any medication and she says he seizes infrequently. “I have seen so many healings within my own family that I just know that my faith is in God, and whatever he chooses for us.”

Vivianne believes that after tonight's event her son will never seize again. “I’m just so excited. I expect that he'll be delivered and healed.”

Retired GP and former NZ Medical Association chairwoman Pippa MacKay says Krick’s claims cross a dangerous line.

"Someone who has genuine epilepsy, stopping a medication is dangerous. I have had one dear friend die from doing that," MacKay says.

Mackay acknowledges that faith healing can provide a placebo effect, potentially improving a person's sense of well-being regarding mental health or addiction.

“With things like HIV or late-stage breast cancer or autism, [that] is bullshit, in my opinion... that's just not a thing.”

Under New Zealand law, you cannot claim to be a health practitioner without a practising certificate, nor can you supply medicines and certain products, or provide certain health services without a licence.

Krick operates in a legal grey area. She can make almost any claim despite contradicting medical science.

While Krick told TVNZ she is not anti-medicine, her theology bypasses medical verification.

“Healing could have taken place in the spiritual realm, but it hasn't manifested yet. And so a person can get a test, and it could show that it's still there. So, it's very important for the person to keep their faith,” she says.

In 2024, Krick posted a video of Destin Priester, a woman with stage four cancer in hospice care, declaring: "I swear to you... be shocked to find no sickness in your body at all and you be discharged from the hospital immediately."

But ten months after the “healing”, Destin Priester died.

When asked if this meant she wasn’t healed, Krick described the declaration of Priester’s recovery as a "spiritual truth."

“Well, we all pass away… we still as children of God should have faith that God is good no matter what,” she says.

She strongly denies ever telling people that they should get off medicine or stop lifesaving therapies.

"I can’t control people's wisdom," Krick says. "I don't see it as ‘they're in danger.’ God is with them."

While tonight’s event is free, Krick's ministry is funded by "seeding": the practice of donating money to "receive more from God".

Viviane says there’s no pressure to give money.

“There's zero pressure to ever seed. Because God gives for free. God delivers for free.”

But in one of the videos, Krick is seen telling a woman she needs to give money for her son’s deliverance.

Krick says it’s about “surrendering” to God.

“If you're holding on to money, not freely giving it to God, that can be holding you back from many things, from receiving miracles, too.”

Krick declined to provide specific details regarding her earnings or the ministry's total net worth.

But MacKay is sceptical about the role of money in Krick's "healing" events. "She's a multi-millionaire, so clearly that has come from somewhere. I think it's preying on vulnerable people."

Ahead of tonight’s event at Auckland's The Trusts Arena, MacKay offers a warning to those in attendance.

"If people want to go along, go along," she says. "But go along with a very open mind and a very closed cheque book."

US faith healer asked tough questions ahead of NZ appearance - Watch on TVNZ+