Private Money Lender: Panama (Country)

[Cory St. Esprit]

Hello - my family and I serve in the country of Panama, where we own a home. We serve alongside a group of missionaries (we are business owners in the states with real estate and restaurants, but split our time between the US and Panama). Our close friends here have a home worth approximately $350,000 (in Panama, they adopted US currency as their currency, so all values are USD/Panamanian). The original seller held a note for 5 years at 5% interest. That 5 years is coming up soon and Panamanian banks are struggling to provide a mortgage on the property due to the state of the economy (less inflation than the US, but also it's just not the US, so it's different). The banks have provided a number of reasons (they won't lend to missionaries, they don't like that asphalt doesn't come up to the house, etc...different reason for each bank). 

So, I'm helping them hunt for a private money lender or some other source they may be able to utilize. They owe $286,000 on it. Their financials are fine and they've never had any trouble carrying the mortgage but, as missionaries, they do fundraise their salary so I think that's where the bank is getting stuck. 

Are there options? International lenders? Private money? Hard money? Help us here! I'm trying really hard to help a really good friend out.