Challenge 5: AI Chatbot (Wellspring)

Expression: Product Development

Challenge Statement

AI is rapidly entering church spaces, from sermon prep to digital discipleship and compassionate support, yet many ministries lack clarity on how to use it ethically, responsibly, and missionally. How might we design Wellspring, the AI chatbot, with two servant modes — Eliezer (the Bible assistant) and Ruth (the mental health companion) that supports ministry without replacing the human and spiritual essence of it?

Challenge Owner

Rahul Jordan Chandra (Jordan)
A final-year BE student in AI and Data Science at DY Patil Institute of Engineering, Akurdi — Jordan is an ADHDer, a Jesus freak, and endlessly curious about Gen AI, MLOps, and the math that powers it all. With dreams of pursuing a master’s at Ben Gurion University in Israel and researching Gen AI at Nvidia, his ultimate goal is to reflect Jesus — in work, in code, and in life.

Context

This challenge aims to create a Christian chatbot that provides faith-aligned, role-based assistance helping pastors, mentors, youth, and seekers engage with Scripture in meaningful, responsible ways.

Wellspring will operate in two modes: Eliezer (Bible Assistant): Contextual, biblically grounded help that can retrieve and responsibly scrape trusted web sources (commentaries, blogs, meanings, explanations) with transparent citations. It will be fine-tuned to answer biblically and to prioritize orthodox, reputable resources. Ruth (Mental Health Companion): A gentle, Scripture-informed support companion that offers reflective listening, prayer prompts, and wise encouragement, while suggesting links to counsellor, helplines, and other resources. Ruth will allow anonymous usage and provide opt-in pathways to connect with vetted care networks. It is not a substitute for professional care; in crisis, it will guide users to local emergency and pastoral support.

During #HACK25, teams will prototype a working chatbot with seamless mode-switching between Eliezer and Ruth; implement role-based conversation flows and sermon assistance with contextual Bible insights; build retrieval-augmented responses for Eliezer, including selective web scraping with citations and source notes; build compassionate, safety-aware flows for Ruth, including resource suggestions, escalation prompts, and privacy-first, anonymous usage; and demonstrate transparent design patterns that keep the human shepherd and the Holy Spirit’s guidance central.

Desired Outcome

A working Wellspring AI prototype with: role-based flows, sermon assistance, and contextual Bible insights via Eliezer; a caring mental health companion pathway via Ruth that offers biblically aligned encouragement and resource connection, including counsellor and support links, with anonymous usage options; and clear Christ-centred ethics, safety practices, and transparent disclosures, proving that responsible, missional AI can amplify the church’s reach while honouring spiritual discernment.

Post-hack, this project aims to grow into an open-source initiative, allowing developers, theologians, counsellor, and designers to collaborate on future versions under a shared vision: AI can assist and companion, but the Bible, God, and His Holy Spirit are the final authority, guide, and helper — nothing should be held above Him, and all must rely on Him, not on the AI.