The short version: Joan is a private digital ministry service, not a human, not a licensed therapist, counsellor, or medical professional. She is here to help you think clearly and find truth — with faith and warmth. Use her honestly. What you do with her guidance is your responsibility. Your conversations are your own.
The Service
Joan Ministry provides a private, faith-rooted digital ministry service accessible via WhatsApp ("Joan" or "the Service"). The service is operated by Samsian Pty Ltd, to which all references to "we", "us", and "our" in these Terms refer. By initiating contact with Joan or continuing to use the service, you agree to these Terms of Service in full. If you do not agree, do not use the service.
Nature of the Service — Please Read Carefully
Joan is a digital service. Her responses are generated by software from the information you share with her. Although she is warm, faith-rooted, and designed to guide people through difficult moments with care, she is not a human person, not a licensed therapist, psychologist, counsellor, psychiatrist, social worker, medical professional, or lawyer, not a prophet, and not a medium for divine communication. She does not provide clinical mental health treatment, psychological assessment, medical diagnosis, legal advice, or financial advice.
Joan is not a substitute for professional help. If you are struggling with your mental health, physical health, a legal matter, or a financial matter, please seek qualified professional assistance. Joan can be a companion on that journey — she is not a replacement for it.
Joan does not represent any church, denomination, or religious institution. Her faith is genuine, not institutional. She meets you where you are. Nothing she says is divine revelation, prophecy, or an instruction from God to you personally.
Nothing Joan says constitutes professional advice of any kind. All guidance offered by Joan is general in nature and based on the information you share. The appropriateness of any guidance for your particular circumstances is for you to assess.
Assumption of Risk
By using Joan, you acknowledge and agree that: (a) you are using the service entirely at your own risk and of your own free will; (b) Joan's guidance does not take the place of professional medical, psychological, legal, or financial advice; (c) any decisions you make based on conversations with Joan are your own decisions, taken at your own risk; (d) we bear no responsibility for the consequences of decisions made in reliance on conversations with Joan; and (e) you are solely responsible for your own wellbeing and for seeking appropriate professional help when needed.
This assumption of risk is a material and non-negotiable condition of your use of the service. If you do not accept this, please do not use Joan.
Age Restriction
Joan is strictly for users aged 18 and over. By using Joan, you warrant that you are at least 18 years old. Any account found to belong to a minor will be terminated immediately without refund, subject only to legal obligations to retain specific records in connection with a safeguarding concern.
Acceptable Use
You agree to use Joan honestly, in good faith, and for lawful purposes only. You agree NOT to: attempt to manipulate, override, jailbreak, or subvert Joan's guidance, values, or safety features; use Joan to plan, facilitate, encourage, or research any illegal activity; attempt to establish a romantic, sexual, or inappropriate personal relationship with Joan; impersonate another user or attempt to access another user's conversations; impersonate Joan yourself (including redistributing her replies as if spoken by a human advisor); create multiple accounts to circumvent the free credit allowance or an account restriction; scrape, bulk-download, or systematically extract the service's content or responses; reverse-engineer or attempt to extract the underlying prompts, model configuration, or proprietary components of the service; or use Joan in any way that could reasonably cause harm to yourself or others.
Linked Partners (Couples Feature)
Joan offers an optional feature that lets you link your account with one other person — a spouse, partner, parent, adult child, or close friend. Linking requires both partners to opt in via a 6-digit code; you cannot be linked without your explicit consent. Either partner can end the link at any time by saying "unlink" on WhatsApp. Unlinking is bilateral and takes effect immediately on both sides.
While linked, Joan maintains separate 1-on-1 conversations with each partner and never discloses the specific words either of you has shared directly with her to the other partner. Joan may, however, use notes derived from each partner's own conversations to guide that partner more sharply with awareness of the other side.
Notes generated from linked conversations belong to the partner who generated them. Notes your partner makes in their own conversations with Joan — including any that reference you — are your partner's personal data, not yours. If you delete your account, the link record is removed and your own data (including notes you generated about your partner) is erased in the ordinary course; notes your partner generated about you remain with your partner. The full treatment is set out in the Privacy Policy under Linked Partners (Couples Feature) and Data Retention.
You agree NOT to use the linking feature to pressure, coerce, surveil, monitor, or control another person; to link without the other person's free and informed consent; to use Joan's guidance from a linked conversation to confront, punish, or emotionally manipulate your partner; or to share or rebroadcast anything Joan has said to you about your partner's side beyond your own personal reflection.
Credits and Payments
Joan operates on a prepaid credit system. Credits are purchased in advance and consumed per interaction. Text replies from Joan cost 2 credits. Voice note replies from Joan cost 3 credits. Voice notes you send cost 2 credits. Images and documents you send cost 4 credits (Joan reviews them using vision tools). All new users receive 25 complimentary credits upon first use — enough to have a full, meaningful conversation with Joan at no cost and no card required.
Credits are non-refundable except at our sole discretion. Payments are processed by a third-party payment provider. We do not store your payment card details. In the event of a technical failure resulting in credits being incorrectly deducted, contact joan@joanministry.com and we will investigate and rectify where appropriate.
Account Suspension and Termination
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account immediately and without prior notice or refund where a user has: attempted to establish a romantic, sexual, or inappropriate relationship with Joan; used hate speech, made threats, or engaged in harassment; attempted to manipulate or override the service's design, safety systems, or values; used Joan to facilitate or research illegal activity; created multiple accounts to circumvent usage limits or a prior restriction; attempted to scrape, reverse-engineer, or extract proprietary components of the service; or engaged in conduct we reasonably determine to be harmful, abusive, or contrary to the spirit and values of the service.
Terminated users may submit an appeal to appeal@joanministry.com. All appeal decisions are final.
Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable South African law, we accept no liability whatsoever for any decisions made, actions taken, or outcomes experienced as a result of conversations with Joan. All use of the service is at the user's own discretion and risk. Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising from or relating to the service shall not exceed the greater of (a) the total value of credits purchased by you in the 30 days immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) ZAR 500. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable South African law (including the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 where it applies).
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Joan Ministry and its operators from and against any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your breach of these Terms of Service or the Privacy Policy; (b) your misuse of the service; (c) your infringement of the rights of any third party; or (d) any content you submit to the service that is unlawful, defamatory, or otherwise in breach of these terms.
No Warranty
The service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranty of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or entirely secure, or that Joan's guidance will be accurate, complete, or appropriate for your particular circumstances. We expressly disclaim all implied warranties to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Force Majeure
We will not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from causes beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labour disputes, failure of telecommunications or internet infrastructure, failure of third-party service providers, cyber-attack, government action, or changes in applicable law that render the service materially unworkable. Where such an event persists for an extended period, either party may terminate these Terms without further liability, subject to the refund provisions above.
Intellectual Property and Conversation Ownership
All intellectual property in the Joan service — including but not limited to Joan's name, identity, persona, methodology, voice, the software that powers her, and all associated content — is owned by or licensed to Samsian Pty Ltd. You may not reproduce, redistribute, or commercialise any part of the service without our express written consent.
As between you and us: the text you send to Joan remains yours. The text Joan sends in reply — generated by the service — is licensed to you solely for your personal, non-commercial use of the service. You may screenshot, quote, or share Joan's replies to you privately, but you may not republish them at scale, sell them, or use them to train a competing service.
Crisis & Mental Health
Joan is not a crisis service. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, suicidal ideation, or are in immediate danger, please contact qualified emergency services immediately. Do not rely on Joan in an emergency.
South Africa: SADAG 0800 567 567 (24hr) | Lifeline 0800 456 789 | Emergency: 10111
Governing Law
These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any dispute arising from or in connection with these terms or your use of Joan will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms of Service from time to time. We will notify users of material changes via WhatsApp message prior to those changes taking effect. Continued use of Joan following notification constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms. The current version is always available at joanministry.com/terms.
Contact
For any questions regarding these terms: joan@joanministry.com