John's Story

Read John's story of how Jesus set him free from fear, trauma and torment after accidently killing a hunter 37 years earlier .......

“I would rather die than forgive myself! It’s all consuming, nothing good can really happen in your life after this!”  These are the words that John expressed to me last week as he recalled the memories of the horrific hunting accident that changed his life forever. 

John and his hunting buddies had been hunting in the Waimana Gorge area.  The day before the accident John had spotted a deer working its way around the hill.  On the day of the accident at exactly the same time and location, John spotted the same deer hiding amongst the dense undergrowth. John could see the deer in his scope and waited to take his shot.

John was a great shot and had a low caliber rifle, used specifically for deer hunting in the bush.  John lined up the rifle and shot the deer straight in the head.  To John's complete shock and horror he began to hear a voice screaming “Stop shooting!”

“I knew exactly what I had done! I froze up, my brain went blank, I began to shake and had cold shivers all over my body and I was in zombie land.  I would have agreed to anything, signed anything for it to go away, but it never did.  Stupid me thinking it was the same deer.”

John had accidentally shot a guy from Auckland who had been hunting in the same area as him and his mate.  These hunters had not adhered to the hunting etiquette to let John’s camp know they were hunting in the same area.  The Auckland hunters were both wearing grey camouflage hunting jackets, looking like the body of a grey deer.

As the hunting parties were three hours into the bush, the other Auckland hunter ran to get help and arrived approximately four hours later with a helicopter.  John spent these four hours looking after the dead body, then helped carry the body out to the helicopter which managed to land on a farm strip nearby.  John was then taken by the police to be questioned.

“This is when the nightmares began”.  The story was in the newspaper and John got called all sorts of horrible names.  “That never bothered me a bit because I thought that is what I deserved. I had no peace for a very long time”.

It took approximately four years until John wasn’t thinking about the accident every day.  He was instantly terrified of everything. “I felt like I needed to be hurt for it, I needed to suffer.  I would rather it was me that was shot”.

Many years later, after John had returned to his love of photography, his beautiful wife was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer .  With the combination of Sue enduring chemotherapy and the torment of the accident, John’s diagnosis of diabetes went out of control.  He began to self-medicate, which resulted in a stroke.  John was diagnosed with Hemichorea, which is a movement disorder characterised by involuntary, jerky, and continuous movements on one side of the body. 

John arrived at Freedom & Fire on the 13 February 2023. “When you saw me, I was at the worst time in my life, I was a wreck, I never thought I was ever going to be any different.  I would visit people, and I would cry, saying “I’m never going to see you again”.

John entered the Freedom & Fire premises jerking, with little ability to talk or walk.  One arm was constantly swinging, his body was trembling, and he was profusely sweating.

My prayer support partner, Doug and I had the most incredible morning in ministry. We dealt with many spirits that had tried to come in through the accident. The strongman (dominant spirit) was a spirit of fear of man.  John stated that “the spirit of fear of man came about after the accident, I became terrified, and I had lost vision for doing anything.”

John had never forgiven himself for the accident, he felt that he deserved his torment and diagnosis. God however moved powerfully, and John finally dug deep down, with the help of the Holy Spirit to forgive himself for the first time!  In that moment the shaking subsided, peace filled his body, and we sung over him in worship.  Doug and I will never forget this day.

“I found in the Freedom & Fire ministry that God’s grace is sufficient for me, I have found that through this I have quite substantial giftings.  After Freedom & Fire I became a lot more intuitive about things happening around me.  I was discovering supernatural gifts that I never knew I had.”

After the session at Freedom & Fire John gradually healed, it was a progressive healing which has taken place over two and half years. “People would start to comment that I was looking so much better.”  I started to notice a couple of months after my session that my central nervous system was slowly being healed.  “I didn’t even notice the day I stopped sweating”.

During the interview I stated that “God has done something amazing!”, John’s reply was “no, it’s more than that, He has made me who He wants me to be”.

Now that life has slowed down for John and Sue, they are now dedicating the rest of their lives to serving the Lord.  John constantly evangelises to those around him.  Both John and Sue have joined the Prayer Team at Church, and John loves to share his testimony and encourage those around him that God is healer and deliverer.

Praise the Lord for John’s healing and freedom. John 10 v10 “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to bring life and life in abundance”.  This is exactly what Satan tried to do, however God stepped in and broke every chain through the power of self-forgiveness, deliverance and grace.  All glory to our Heavenly Father for what He has done in John’s life and the lives that are now being touched though John and his wife.  John is now living the abundant life!

Author Kate Moodie (after recording John approximately two and a half years after this session at Freedom & Fire 22/10/25)