The 'Celebration' singer – who adopted the boy, now four, from the African country in October 2006 when he was 13 months old – visited the centre where he used to live this week and the children couldn't hold back their praise for her.

One child said to her: "You are our God. Where could we have been without you?"

Workers at the Home Child Care Centre in Mchinji, Malawi, also spoke highly of the 51-year-old star about the way she has been raising David.

The centre's director, Lucy Chipeta, said: "David is too young to understand, but for us who remember the sickly tiny little baby of 2006, it was hard to hold back tears, including Madonna."

Orphanage founder Thomson Chipeta added to Us Weekly magazine: "He is so boisterous! I can't believe he is the same chap of 2006."

Madonna – who also adopted four-year-old daughter Mercy from the country earlier this year – recently admitted she has been "taught a lot" by Malawi.

She said: "People always ask me, 'Why did you choose Malawi?' But I have always said, 'Malawi chose me.' Growing up in a privileged life, I took education for granted. Coming to Malawi has taught me a lot."

The star is currently in the country with the two youngsters and their older siblings, Lourdes, 13, and Rocco, nine.