Lt. Clifford Douglas

Arts In Action | Testimony Series | Lt. Clifford Douglas

Dance has been a great passion of mine for as long as I can remember. During my younger years, it wasn’t the same as today. My exposure was more Caribbean style, Soca, Folk, Reggae to name a few. However, after completing high school and moving to the city in my home country Guyana, I decided to give up dancing and fully focus on my studies. I didn’t dance for about 15 months but it was the church that led me back to this art form in which I feel at peace. A one-time performance ignited that passion I once had leading me to work hard and landing a place in the National Dance Company of Guyana after a couple of years.
After moving to New York in the summer of 2015, and becoming a soldier in the Greater New York Division I saw the opportunity to audition for a spot in the Divisional Dance team so I went for it. At that time there had never been a male dancer in the team and some would wonder why I would even consider joining. The thing is, I had made a promise to God after accepting my call to Officership which I had neglected for a very long time; that if I accept His call, I wanted Him to allow me to do the one thing I had a great passion for and that was dance. Not only did I believe that God was keeping His promise but also making a statement that you should never give up on your passion because of a view held by others.
Today I can say that God has blessed me with the talent of dance and I will forever be dancing for Him all the days of my life. I’m also proud to see the tide changing with the amount of dancers and the level of dance being expressed in the Salvation Army even beyond the Greater New York division. Dance is a powerful tool for delivering the gospel message as well as highlighting social concerns which the Army stands against. However, what gives me the greatest joy is seeing the attention the Army is now giving to dance and its ministry. During my three years here there has been such a significant change. I know there is still a lot to be done but I believe that we are heading in the right direction.
2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the Lord with all his Might, wearing a priestly garment.
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