Biography

Jean was born in Haiti on October first of 1976 in a small village located deep in a wooded area of
Haiti, where you could hear the waterfalls as you walk through. Jean has memories of huge banana
trees where the plush fruit would be falling off ready to be harvested. Big beautiful parrots were everywhere.
Jean always wanted a parrot as a pet! There were many cane, wheat, and rice fields, too. There was his
Mom, Dad and four children. Jean has two brothers and one sister, who are all younger. He was the only
one with a handicap – one leg. His sister was just a baby. He never got to know his sister because he left
home, but he thinks of her often.

Like Father, like Son
Jean’s father had a huge garden. He had a variety of things such as watermelons, tomatoes, beans, rice,
and wheat. The field actually belonged to his grandpa but he was too old to do the work so Jean‘s dad did
it. If their crops weren’t doing well, his dad would harvest other peoples’ crops for money and food. If other
people were having a hard time with their crops, his dad would let them work in his field for food. Jean’s
family didn’t have much land, but his dad would figure out what could be planted together. Like beans and
corn – he would plant them to where the beans wrapped around the corn stalks for support.

Jean‘s dad would work all day in the fields. He remembers seeing his dad taking a nap under the huge
shade tree for his lunch break, hat over his face, and then he would continue to work through the evening
until the sun went down. Jean’s family didn’t have electricity so everything had to be done in the daylight
hours. They used candles and kerosene lamps at night.

Mothers and Brothers
Jean’s mom would wash people’s clothes to make money and help support the family. She also took
care of the children.Jean remembers flying kites in the fields with his younger brothers. They use to
make the kites out of bamboo sticks. They made them so huge that they could carry a child in the air.
One day Jean’saunt called the boys to eat, and a friend tied his kite to a small banana tree. When they
came back, the tree and kite was gone! The wind was so strong it made the kite pull the tree right out
of the ground. On occasion Jean and his brothers would find an avocado tree with a big avocado at
the top. Jean, his brothers, and friends would take turns rocking the tree back and forth to try and knock
the avocado down. When it fell, they ate it.

They use to catch fireflies at night, play marbles, watch rough rooster fights, and fish. Sometimes they
went fishing in the rice fields. There was lots of water in the rice fields from the river overflowing and it
would get hot.One day as Jean was fishing he stepped into a soft spot that was real deep. He ended
up getting his leg stuck and since he didn’t have another leg to pull himself out he had to crawl out!

When Jean was growing up a lot of voodoo and witchcraft was practiced in his village. They used a lot
of chickens in their ceremonies, which Jean thought were very scary. He was never part of any of it
because of his handicap. Jean thinks they might have thought he would be a curse. It all came down
to Jean needing to do something about his leg.

Beginning of Hope
Jean was born with only one leg and hopped everywhere because his family couldn’t afford crutches.
As a young boy, Jean got picked on and called “One Leg”. He thought there was no hope of ever
getting an artificial leg. Jean would cry to his grandma because he was so upset. He remembers how
she used to comfort him. Shewould say things like “It’s okay, one day you'll go to America, get a new
leg, and then you will be able to walk.” Jean use to wonder how he could get to America when his
family didn’t have any money. His Grandma had strong faith, she trusted in God, and she taught
Jean many things about God.

Jean remembers when he was about 7 or 8, a missionary came to Haiti and had a revival one night.
They ministered about the love of God and how he hears our every prayer. At the end of the evening,
they had an alter call and asked if anyone had a prayer request. Jean went up to the alter and asked
them to pray that God would give him a leg. While they were praying, he really thought that God was
going to give him a leg right then and there! As Jean was just sitting there, waiting for his leg to grow,
he didn’t know that at the time God had another plan. That plan was for Jean to go to America, just
like hid grandma had always told him.

There was a time when missionaries came to Jean’s village. They came to his house and asked his
mom if they could take him to Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti. His mom wanted to talk to his dad
about it but he had already left for work and wouldn’t be back until late. Jean’s brothers were in school
at the time and his baby sister was home with them. Jean‘s mom made the decision and the
missionaries took Jean to an orphanage. He never saw the missionaries or my family after that.
Jean look at it as angels sent by God to do a mission.

Jean's Dreams Become Reality
One day, in 1985, an American woman named Sandy Tucker visited the orphanage, and when she
saw Jean she knew it would be possible to bring him to America for surgery on my leg. She returned
to America and diligently worked towards making Jean’s dream a reality. Upon her return in 1985,
with paperwork in place, Sandy brought Jean to a small, rural community in America. He was nine at
the time, and scared because of the horror stories he had heard ofAmericans cooking and eating little
black children for dinner!

The fears vanished away once Jean got settled into his new home in
Liberty, KY. It was there, in which the love of Sandy and Jerry Tucker, that he accepted Jesus Christ
into his heart as his personal Lord and Savior. God took all Jean’s fears and replaced it with His love!
Today, Jean is 32 years old, and expressing His love through his songs and with an artificial leg, too!

God Through His Music
Jean’s had a fountain of music flowing out of him as long as he can remember. He was introduced
to music such as Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman and Chris Rice, among others. This little
ripple of music within grew into a river flowing out. Jean started setting up five gallon buckets and
playing rhythm. He made up music while watching the rain falling, birds flying, or anything that came
into his head. Playing rhythm on the buckets eventually helped Jean play the guitar. Jean says that
God blessed him with the opportunity to meet people such as The Bishops, Michael W. Smith, Steven
Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, Jeff and Sheri Easter, and Charlie Daniels. Charlie Daniels is like an
uncle to him, he has been a great encouragement for Christ, and even gave Jean one of his guitars,
and signed it!

A Gradfather's Inspiration to "Tell Them"
Jean’s Grandpa use to take him to town with him as he ministered to people. He told Jean that he
wasn’t going to be around forever to minister and that he would have to carry on. He said that Jean
would have to tell people about the love of Jesus. After he died Jean was staring at his picture on the
wall and the words “tell them” kept flowing from his very being. The song “Tell Them” was inspired
from his Grandpa.

Faith Through Lyrics
People loved it and they encouraged Jean to write more songs. “Gods Painting” was inspired by
Thomas Kinkade paintings, ceramics, and books. Jean says that he doesn’t have the artistic gift so
I put it into words. Basically Jean just wanted to capture God’s love on paper. Jean says that God
has given him so much, and showed him so much over the years. He really wanted to share this with
people and the only way he knew how to express it was through music. He would write a song here
and there.

Jean plays for a lot of churches. He also plays for colleges, prisons (Danville, Lexington, Louisville),
youth rallies, coffee shops, and house gatherings. From these appearances, he believes that he has
received a tremendous amount of support. Jean has also had the honor of touring the road with
The Bishops. He has been playing the guitar for 15 years and has written many songs.

Jeans Promise to God
As long as God keeps filling Jean’s cup, He vows to keep singing and writing. Jeff and Sheri Easter
were on tour with the Gathers, and let Jean sing with them and offered to help him in any way they
could. When Jeff Taylor, a musician from Nashville TN, heard Jean, he got some musician friends
together to help him with his first CD. Jean’s earnest prayer for writing these songs and making this
CD is to draw people closer to God, to tell people that God really does love them and care about
their every concern, and to draw people out of the darkness and into His eternal light and life. Jean
prays that his music brings glory and honor to Jesus Christ, “To God be all the Glory”!