“I loved ZAINABU'S STORY, I couldn’t stop flipping the pages. The book has really touched my heart and made me appreciate what I have.”
Biography
Lynley Smith was a trained primary school and ESOL teacher, journalist and author.
She grew up very adept at sport, and went on in her teen years to achieve success in athletics and netball, but injury changed the course of her life. She had to find new goals and a new identity. This led to 10 years of searching to find what life was really about, achieving a high level of academic success and a BA degree.
“I finally remembered, through the gentle prompting of my young children, that there was a God I had almost totally forgotten about.”
Lynley trained and worked as a journalist, then travelled around the world to research her book, From Matron to Martyr. She taught English in Mainland China, then concentrated on her writing and speaking career, doing presentations internationally about her book and the issues of anti-Semitism and discrimination. She enjoyed seeing her 13 small grandchildren growing fast which reminded her that we must never forget how to look at the world through the faithful and uncomplicated eyes of a child, because there we will find a special wisdom that can only come from God. Sadly, Lynley passed away in 2018.
Acorn Adventures
Sale Price:NZ$14.99 Original Price:NZ$19.99
A JOURNEY BACK INTO THE FASCINATING LAND OF ANCIENT ISRAEL, WHERE A GROUP OF CHILDREN ARE GIVEN A MISSION TO SOLVE YET ANOTHER MYSTERY.
In the previous story, Greenstone Mystery, the children discover the greatest truth the world has ever known. They found out that God is not just a fairy tale or a nice idea that can be put aside and ignored. This time, some of these children, with some new and interesting mates, follow the leading of a strange acorn, getting themselves into dangerous and challenging circumstances, until they finally discover all the clues that lead them to the truth.
Today’s young readers are faced with some interesting questions. What was it like in the Garden of Eden? What is that story all about, and how does it feel to be back there? What about that ridiculous story of Jonah and the whale? Following on from the popular Greenstone Mystery, this story packs a punch for 10-12 year olds. Acorn Adventures is a great read as a children’s chapter novel, but is also designed to be a tool for classroom or group discussion, with a useful study guide at the end of the book.
For children ages 9-13.
Lynley’s website and blog: lynleysmith.com
Format: Paperback | 205 b&w pages
Dimensions: 148 x 210 x 13mm | 323g
ISBN13: 978-1-911211-81-5
Publisher: Zaccmedia UK
Publication Date: March 2018
Publication country: UK
From Matron to Martyr
Sale Price:NZ$19.99 Original Price:NZ$24.99
ONE WOMAN’S ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR THE JEWS.
An inspirational and bittersweet fictionalised biography of Jane Haining who died in Auschwitz in WWII whose death offers a beacon of hope.
After finding a tenuous family connection to the mysterious and captivating Jane Haining, Lynley Smith crafted Jane’s fictionalised diary, a biography of a faithful servant and Scottish missionary who died at the hands of Nazi butchers in Auschwitz Concentration Camp during World War II.
Discover how Jane’s death has become a beacon of hope to the countless Jews of this generation who seek an answer to the big question: If the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would allow His people to experience such horrific events as the Holocaust, could He still love us? Is He a God we even want to know anymore? Discover Jane’s answer in Lynley Smith’s From Matron to Martyr.
“I have read many biographies and had the privilege of researching and writing many stories, but none touched me like Jane Haining’s. I actually felt I was within the story, living it with the heroine—sharing her passions, emotions, concerns, and fears. I felt her strong faith. The story was set in Hungary, a country that had never before taken my interest. It was the story of one woman’s ultimate sacrifice for the Jews.” -Lynley Smith
“Lynley Smith’s From Matron to Martyr is a touching and personal account of the life of Jane Haining. This fitting tribute to a fine Christian woman rightfully keeps the memory of Jane Haining’s lamp burning. Jane is one more example of decent Christianity prepared to lay down its life for the Jewish people.” —NIGEL WOODLEY, PASTOR AND AUTHOR OF HOLOCAUST EXPOSED: THE BIBLE ENIGMA IN 2009
Lynley’s website and blog: lynleysmith.com
Format: Paperback | 230 b&w pages
Dimensions: 152 x 229 x 14mm | 339g
ISBN13: 978-1-911211-35-8
Publisher: Zaccmedia UK
Publication Date: July 2017
Publication country: UK
Globetrotting on a Shoestring
Sale Price:NZ$14.99 Original Price:NZ$19.99
A KIWI’S GLOBETROTTING ADVENTURES — A UNIQUE TRAVEL DIARY THAT READERS WON’T BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN.
Travelling mainly alone, author Lynley Smith takes you with her on a journey to Israel, Hungary, Colombia, Kenya, China, United Kingdom, Australia and the USA. She describes ‘with a healthy helping of dry humour’ her fascinating interactions with the locals, who are just living life—and the challenges in getting there.
Travelling on buses, planes, trains, a ‘bungbung’ (a 3-wheeled motorbike converted into a taxi) and, of course, her own two feet, Lynley finds herself in some very strange (and scary) places. You are never too sure whether or not she is going to be arrested or kidnapped or suffer “Delhi belly” from eating cicadas and pigs ears.
The stories are all undergirded by the feeling that there was always someone ‘watching out for her’, wherever she went. And it’s just as well!
Globetrotting on a Shoestring is funny, informative, nostalgic, and a little quirky. A must-read for everyone who would like to travel, or wants to reminisce.
Lynley’s website and blog: lynleysmith.com
Format: Paperback | 146 b&w pages
Dimensions: 152 x 229 x 9mm | 283g
ISBN13: 978-0-473-42977-5
Publisher: Wild Side Publishing
Publication Date: March 2018
Publication country: New Zealand
Greenstone Mystery
NZ$19.99
A GROUP OF CHILDREN ARE TRANSPORTED BACK IN TIME INTO ANCIENT ISRAEL, WHERE THEY DISCOVER THROUGH SOME SERIOUS ADVENTURES THAT GOD IS REAL!
This book strikes at the heart of the myth of our times-that God is perhaps just a nice idea which we can safely ignore, or even doesn’t really exist and never has. Whether children are brought up to go to church and Sunday School, or have never set foot in a church or laid eyes on a Bible, they are all getting the same message from our culture-there is no God! It also raises the awareness of children of the very Jewish nature of the Christian faith and its history.
The book is designed for use simply as a great story, but also as a teaching tool for use by teachers or leaders with groups of children-discussion stimulating questions in an appendix at the end of the book.
The story is purposefully counter-cultural! It brings the question of God’s existence right into the daily lives and thinking of children at the age where they are beginning to really think for themselves. And it does it in an engaging and interesting way.
For children ages 9-13.
Lynley’s website and blog: lynleysmith.com
Format: Paperback | 152 b&w pages
Dimensions: 148 x 210 x 9mm | 230g
ISBN13: 978-1-911211-46-4
Publisher: Zaccmedia UK
Publication Date: December 2016
Publication country: UK
Zainabu's Story
Sale Price:NZ$14.99 Original Price:NZ$19.99
A CHILD’S JOURNEY FROM REJECTION AND STARVATION IN THE SLUMS OF NAIROBI TO A NEW LIFE OF FREEDOM.
Zainabu turned to face her sponsor. “As I was talking to you that day I felt loved,” she said. “Just before I got out of the car, you told me something no one else had ever told me before. You told me you loved me. This kept me going later… I could always remember at least one person loved me.
”Three little words—I love you—and a mighty dose of God’s faithfulness combined to rescue one extremely deprived child in the heart of the worst slum in Africa, the Kibera Slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Zainabu’s Story gives the true account of a child’s journey from rejection, starvation, physical abuse, attempted rape, and a huge struggle against the hypnotic attraction of Kibera’s street life to a new life of freedom. The challenges faced by aid agencies and sponsors reaching out to these children are interwoven into her story.
A must-read for anyone wanting to reach out to the poor among the nations.
Lynley’s website and blog: lynleysmith.com
Format: Paperback | 216 b&w pages
Dimensions: 127 x 178 x 11mm | 224g
ISBN13: 978-1-911211-70-9
Publisher: Zaccmedia UK
Publication Date: November 2017
Publication country: UK
Blog Posts
Lynley's legacy
Lynley Smith was a passionate New Zealand Christian author who sadly passed away from Leukaemia in October 2018. She lived a full and victorious life with many causes that she supported with great gusto. Only reaching her final calling in life as an author after retiring from journalism, Lynley embarked on a whirlwind few years of traveling, writing, adventuring and publishing 5 books covering a range of fiction, nonfiction and children’s fiction books. These books reflect her heart and her spirit and they are her ongoing legacy for future generations.
Book Reviews
“GREENSTONE MYSTERY provides younger readers with a user-friendly framework to explore life issues in an authentic, appealing way. The author is a master storyteller who has drawn upon her extensive experience as an educator to produce an oasis of wholesome reading for children.”
"Raphael ben Levi. B.Ed (Hons) Dip.Ed DD (Retired Headmaster, London,UK, and Asia) – Author of Bagels and Cream Cheese, and Romance of the Jewish Calendar"
“FROM MATRON TO MARTYR: I found the life story of this amazing and courageous woman challenging me and my assumptions about life. It has given me more understanding of the people I live among. May I learn to love them as Jane did.”