Christians in Syria are hiding in churches to escape violence between Bedouin fighters and Druze militia.
It comes as details are emerging about a Christian man killed alongside several members of his family in Syria.
Khalid Mezher, who was of Druze origin, had converted to Christianity with his family many years ago.
They were shot in their home during violence in the Suwayda region.
Juliette Amor lives in Syria and is a local partner aid worker for the charity Open Doors. She told Premier: “Khaled died with his family. He was a Christian from a Druze background. He's the only Christian in his family along with his wife and daughter. The rest of the family are Druze.
“They were killed when they were hiding in their house from the shooting by an armed group. They entered the house and killed them all. So he wasn’t killed because he was a Christian, but because he was from a Druze family.”
Juliette Amor said Khaled had a prayer group which visited homes: “They used to pray in houses and I believe that Khalid helped a lot of people to hear God's words and to believe in Jesus.
“He was a believer. He was serving others and making them more believing in Jesus, but he wasn’t killed because he was Christian. I think the group didn't know that.”
Describing the situation around Suwayda as desperate, Amor said all the roads to the city had been blocked and that it wasn’t safe to enter the region: “Almost all the Christians are hiding in the churches because it’s safer than the city.”
She said she had spoken to a priest in the Suwayda countryside who told of the terror felt by Christians: “He has about 80 people sleeping in a hall without any clothes, or food, or water. There is no water in the area also. And he told me that we are Christian, we are not armed. We are living in peace, we just want peace. We just want to go back to our houses safely.
“Maybe we can pray for all Christians in Syria, especially in Suwayda - pray for stability and peace, for wisdom to all the people in charge to end this war, to end this violence.
“Pray for God to never leave the Christian in Syria and protect the people in the church in Suwayda or any other place they are hiding.”
This week, the Syrian Orthodox Church the Syrian Orthodox Church launched an urgent appeal for the United Nations and the international community to intervene in the conflict in Syria.
In a statement posted online, the Archdiocese of Bosra, Hauran, Jabal al-Arab (Mount Druze) and the Golan for the Greek Orthodox Church described the war as "savage," and called for swift intervention to stop "terrorist massacres" in Suwayda. It said the violence was claiming "the lives of young and old," and urged people to "pray that this cry reaches the whole world".