Put together a bunch of young Christians with a great sense of humour, a talent for acting, and a heart to reach out to the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ and what do you get? “Burning Issues Drama Group”.

Performing revue evenings for churches around the country, the group has seen fruit produced in their ministryMuch of the material produced is written by members of the group themselves, supplemented by sketches with other Christian writers from around the world. While the principle style is comedy, they also perform more poignant pieces. All are designed to be thought provoking, and to point the audience to Christ.

Initially, the performances were as part of a programme at tent missions, putting on one sketch as part of the evening rally. Over time, the repertoire built up considerably – so that by the end of 2004, they staged a revue at a local theatre "An Evening of Burning Issues" played to packed houses for 2 nights. Many of the audience were people who would not normally attend Christian meetings; so there was seed sown to lives who may never have heard the gospel before. Not only did the audience thoroughly enjoy the show, many were genuinely touched, and were challenged to consider Christ.

This put a desire in the group to seek opportunities to use their God-given talents. Recently, doors have opened to do just that. Performing revue evenings for churches around the country, the group has seen fruit produced in their ministry. In Haddington, 7 young people committed their lives to Christ at the end of the performance; while in Dunfermline, 15 kids declared that they wanted to become Christians at a summer mission where Burning Issues had put on a show.

The group have produced a feature-length historical play following the lives of Scottish covenanters who were martyred for their faith. This is a significant divergence from their usual style, and will stretch their abilities; but they feel the message needs to be told – Christians in Scotland have suffered persecution in the past, but their faith was strong. The Church of Jesus Christ needs to wake up to the fact that such days could come again, and be prepared for it.