Lessons Learned the Hard Way. The missionary enterprise is difficult, wherever it’s undertaken. But some places and peoples make it especially difficult, showing painfully-little visible fruit over decades or even centuries. Kurdistan is one of those places. But that doesn’t mean God hasn’t been at work, nor does it mean there aren’t valuable lessons to be learned, even from “failures.” From his on-the-ground experience in Kurdistan and his study of past missionary work there, Bob Blincoe presents this thorough history of missions to the Kurdish people. More than mere history, Ethnic Realities and the Church is also a mission-strategy handbook. Here are helpful insights and implications not only for those who would still reach the Kurds for Christ, but for missionaries to any people group, especially where tilling the soil is particularly hard.