Review of dfree by Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr.✊🏿

Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr. started a financial responsibility revolution with his book dfree: Breaking Free From Financial Slavery. Dr. Soaries is a success story himself having climbed out of personal debt and who admitted to not investing until he was in his late forties. In June of 2021 he was able to retire as lead pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens (FBCLG) in Somerset, New Jersey after more than thirty years of service. During his tenure at FBCLG, he made helping his congregates handle their money an objective of his administration by teaching them the tools to erase their personal debt. dfree, provides easy-to-read and follow tips on how to effectively manage money. It has grown into a series with books and workbooks geared to helping the entire family.

I was impressed with how he came up with the concept of helping people live debt-free. As the leader of the church, one of the tasks he was given was to help raise funds. In the past, the pastor would preach on tithing to get parishioners to give more. According to what Dr. Soaries said in his book, it was expected for him to do the same but he had a vision to teach Biblical principles about money and used his platform as senior pastor to help people achieve financial independence. His dfree program has given people the tools to live free from “financial slavery” unlike the 30% of American households who have credit card debt and don’t pay their bills on time. These behaviors negatively impact their credit score.

In addition to his many books, there are dfree classes given virtually post-pandemic to teach people these tools. He said in his book that the first year he implemented this program at his church donations went up by one million dollars while other churches during this same period saw a decrease in their contributions. He has shown that by helping people to manage their finances he was able to help his church without having to preach (beg) his congregants to give more money.

Rev. Soaries pioneered many programs that helped the community while at the church including: foiunding the Central Jersey Community Development Corporation in 1992 which is a a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that specializes in revitalizing distressed neighborhoods, and Harvest of Hope Family Services Network, Inc. (HOH) which he founded in 1996 that helps children in the foster care system. To learn more about Reverend Dr. Soaries please go to his site, www.dbsoaries.com.

I’m looking forward to reading his newest book Say Yes When Life Says No.

Candace Waller is the author of, What Goes Around Comes Around the sequel Good Things Comes, and the upcoming book Lessons I Learned From Loving You, A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Healing.