By Emily-Rose Toohey
In 1991, Noel and Sharon Moody left their familiar shores of New Zealand for Australia on a mission and this week, the couple is based in Stanthorpe for an unknown period of time.
Calling themselves highway preachers, the husband and wife duo said they travel to wherever God sends them with their cross and they walk the streets of country towns to spread the word.
“We came to Australia because there was a call from God in our lives, so we came here and have been doing just that – walking the cross around Australia, that’s been our mission,“ Noel said.
“We were doing a bit of praying recently and heard the Lord saying twice, ’go to Stanthorpe’ – this is our fourth time here.“
Noel said the goal was to make themselves highly visible and that their whole ministry was going out to regional, country towns to remind people of God’s love.
“It’s amazing how people come to us and come for prayer,“ he said.
“We also sometimes buy meals for people who are really struggling.
“We have a JBL speaker on the cross to play gospel music as we walk and we’ve had people come to us and say the music’s beautiful.“
While the pair are Pentecostal and part of the Foursquare Church, on the street, Noel said they were non-denominational.
“All sorts of people come to us for advice and we make a bridge between the people and God,“ he said.
“We wait on the Holy Spirit and he speaks to me and tells me where to go – the journey’s been amazing.“
During their decades-long journey, Noel and Sharon have travelled across the country and said they have had some incredible encounters, including a particularly memorable trip from Toowoomba to the Gold Coast.
“One day, we were sitting in the garage doing Bible study and the Holy Spirit led us to a woman who was about to commit suicide on the Gold Coast,“ Noel said.
“Our ministry is reaching the lost and broken and reconciling them to God.“
In Stanthorpe, Noel said they were going to be in the street almost every day – they spend every year travelling in an old Olympic caravan, with the Christmas period being their only time off.
“We’ve done 300,000 km in it (the caravan) since 2015,“ he said.
However, every story has a beginning and for Noel, that was a mountain top experience in New Zealand at 16.
“I come from a non-religious background, my father was in jail and one night I looked up into the heavens and said, ’God are you there and if you’re real I want to meet you’,“ he said.
“Years after that, I met God when I went to the Christ Church Auditorium and through that, we accepted the invitation and our lives have led us here.“
Noel met Sharon in 1970 when he was serving in the New Zealand Army and they now have two daughters and grandchildren.
“We (Sharon and I) both come from broken homes and we know what it’s like to feel sadness, so out of that God brought us together and it was amazing how we connected,“ Noel said.
