“For the people of Israel belong to the Lord; Jacob is His special possession. He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; He guarded them as he would guard his own eyes. Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so He spread His wings to take them up and carried them safely on His pinions. The Lord alone guided them” (Deuteronomy 32:9-12).
During the spring of 2000, a few dedicated families gathered at Dr. Joseph Kunchandy’s residence to worship God. Bro. Yohannan George led the first meeting, and 35 members including children attended. God blessed this gathering and thus another church was born in the city Los Angeles (CA), on Sunday, March 19, 2000 – IPC Hebron Los Angeles. Rev. Valsan Abraham visited and led the worship service on the following Sunday. IPC Hebron and the North American Western Region (NWR) affiliated on April 16, 2000. Pastor Alex Mullallootil became the lead Pastor of IPC Hebron, Los Angeles on April 23, 2000. As time passed and the congregation grew, this small group of people who had a vision and believed that their lives had a greater purpose, moved into a more spacious rented building of the Grace Evangelical Church, Norwalk on March 11, 2001.
Over the next 10 years, the church witnessed incredible leaderships of Pastor Alex Mulamootil (2000-2002), Pastor Manoj Varughese (2003-2005), and Rev. John K. Mathew (2006-2010). The church attendance doubled, and the congregation began to pray and seek for a larger location. The church experienced both blessing and hardship yet through it, they continued to see God’s faithfulness. Rev. K. M. Varughese became the senior Pastor of IPC Hebron Los Angeles in the year 2011, and played an instrumental role in leading the church to its vision. IPC Hebron bought an amazing campus in the city of Whittier in March 2013, and expanded their ministries for the advancement of His Kingdom. In a ceremonious function, Rev K. M. Varughese dedicated this beautiful church building. Rev. Valsan Abraham and Dr. Mathew George were the main speakers and many others from the various parts of America shared felicitations.
God has guided IPC Hebron through major milestones and miracles in its short life. Along with the church, leadership teams, and the respective elected committees, God used many men like Johnson Ninan (2000-2001 & 2012-2013), Yohannan George (2002 & 2008-2009), Varghese Mathew (2003-2004, 2006-2007 & 2014-2015), George Alexander (2005) and Regi Varghese (2010-2011,2016-present) as secretaries and Joseph Kunchandy (2000 & 2003), Rajan C Abraham (2001 & 2004-2005), Kunjumon Koshy (2002 & 2006), Regi Varughese (2007 & 2008), Abraham Mathew (2009), Biju Yohannan (2010-2011), Jijo John (2012-2013), Lijo Jose Mathew (2014-2015) and Biju Zacharias (2016-present) as treasurers to constantly lead the church to a higher level that God desired about us.
Currently, the church conducts two Sunday services (Malayalam and English), three different area prayer meetings (East side, Simi Valley and South Bay areas), several other meetings during the week, and various active ministries including missions and charity to make a difference in the city of LA and beyond. We thank God for his saving grace that found us even in an empty and howling wasteland; guided us, guarded us, safely took us up and brought us this far on his mighty wings. We are certain that the Lord alone who guided us this far will continue to use us to exalt His name, edify one another and to evangelize the lost.