Profile: Beth VanSickle
Beth VanSickle and her sock monkeys bring smiles to those who need them.
"It's vital that we live out our faith every day, because Jesus calls us to be servants and to nuture and encourage one another."
As strange as it might sound, Elizabeth VanSickle sees her cancer as a gift from God.
“I wouldn’t choose any different path,” she says. “And the main reason is, is I wouldn’t change my relationship right now with God for anything. “
 Since receiving the diagnosis, VanSickle started Sock Monkey Ministries, Inc., and has sent more than 8,500 handmade sock monkeys to people in need. Cancer patients, AIDs patients, those suffering from autism or Down’s Syndrome, orphans and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have all received a little symbol of love shaped like a monkey from a woman dying of cancer herself.
Cancer is a second chance, not a death sentence, she says.
“But for me, it gives me a second chance to spread the gospel of God. But also just to spread love and acceptance and nurturing to everyone.”
She probably wouldn’t have started the ministry if she hadn’t become ill, she says.
“You know, I think I may have taken it for granted if everything was working out great for me, I probably would have just gone to church and, and not have had the reason and the purpose to come to him [God] on a regular basis, like I do now.”
 “Every day when I wake up, he’s my co-pilot. He’s with me everywhere I go. I think that God definitely has a mission for me and he’s not done with me yet.“
VanSickle is a member of Lakeview Pelham's First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. She says her church family gives her strength. “Whenever you need anything, they’re the first ones that I think about. … I don’t have a family of my own. So, in a sense, they’ve become my family.”
Each monkey from VanSickle contains a special foam heart that was prayed over by the person sewing the toy.
“We have a foam heart that we cut out that the monkey makers hold in their hands and they pray over. And they stick it inside the monkey so each recipient can actually feel the heart. And when we send out these monkeys, they are given with a letter saying that this monkey was prayed over, you know, in hopes that it will bring encouragement to you.”
“God very firmly just tells me, now listen, I know your vision, I’m the one who put it in there. And I’m going to bring the people forth to help that happen. And he has. God has always provided.”
 Her favorite Scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight” (NIV).
“This Scripture has been my life verse, because so often, during your circumstances, you tend to trust whatever is happening with you and you lose sight and focus of God. When I repeat that verse over and over in my head again, it reminds me to keep my focus on God and to trust in him, and peace that transcends all understanding will definitely fill my heart.”
The following people contributed to this Profile:
Audio story by Mike Hickcox; print story by Kathy Gilbert; videography by John Gordon.
UMC.org Profiles are produced by Pam Price, 615-742-5405.
Beth's Spiritual Gifts
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Servanthood
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Compassion
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Exhortation
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Healing
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Sheperding
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Miracles
Learn more about your spiritual gifts
Beth's Recommended Resources
Sock Monkey Ministries, Inc.
The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel
Grace For The Moment by Max Lucado
Experiencing God by Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King
Breast Cancer: Network of Strength
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
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